Trapped
by judaiandjohan
Summary: While sightseeing Scotland with Alistair, Alfred and Mathew find themselves trapped in Hogwarts. Unable to get out, the twins have no choice but to remain there until they can figure out how to get free, but what is it exactly that's keeping them there? Is it the school or is it something else? Takes place during Order of the Phoenix.
1. Chapter 1

Hey everybody, welcome to my first Hetalia/Pottertalia story. I actually got the idea from this from a dream where Alfred and Matthew were trapped in Hogwarts and Alfred was very sassy about it, he was not happy being there. I decided to delve a little on this idea and a full blown story came to mind, and since I moved to a new state about a week ago, I had plenty of time to write it out. As such, this is actually the only story I'm currently working on that has multiple chapters typed up and ready to be updated.

As I mentioned above, this is my first Hetalia fanfic, and I'm not entirely used to writing these characters. So I apologize if any of them seem out of character. Any help offered when it comes to writing them would be very much appreciated. I am also looking for nicknames for Kumajiro, since we all know our lovely Canadian can never fully remember his name.

Anyways, onto the disclaimer and then the story. **_Judaiandjohan does not own Harry Potter, Hetalia, or any of its characters. She owns only the plot and any OCs she may include in the future._** Also, human names will be used. Enjoy!

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Alistair was in the middle of a nap when he felt two presences cross over his border. He cast out his magical sense and smiled when he felt the auras of his nephews. Seems they had gotten bored of long air flights or boat rides and figured out how to nation hop. It took them long enough, they were almost 400 years old, and barely figuring it out. He sighed as he sat up, running his hand through his hair before Apparating to where he was sensing their aura.

He found them in his own equivalent of Diagon Alley. It might not have been big as his younger brother's but it was still bustling with activity. Most likely parents getting their last second school shopping done before the school year started tomorrow. He found Matthew inside of the bookstore leafing through a few books, he stood beside the violet eyed blond for a few seconds before clearing his throat.

The blond jumped and looked to his side, his eyes widening a little in surprise before he recognized the person beside him. "Uncle Alistair." He happily greeted him, wrapping him in a quick hug before putting the book he was reading back on the shelf. "It's good to see you again."

"Aye lad, it has been quite a while, though I imagine your boss keeping you busy might have something to do with that." The blond nodded, and Alistair understood. As a nation there was always some kind of paperwork for them to do. "Now where might your brother be? I hope he isn't getting in to trouble, I'd hate to have to bail him out of jail again."

"Oh, the last place I left him was at the broom store. He was really curious about their build and was trying to figure out if he could 'trick them out' to make them faster." Matthew responded as they headed towards said broom shop.

"Don't you have brooms in North America? I know Quodpot is more popular over there, but I know your people still play Quidditch." Alistair asked out of curiosity, he had never been to visit his nephews' magic community. From what he's heard they seemed to be more open to lineage than some of the wizards in his own community. Though he expected as much from a country as nationally diverse as America.

"Yeah, they're just not as top of the lines as the ones you find here. Since it's not so big there, there's no real reason to make them souped up. Alfred, I found uncle Alistair, let's go." Matthew called out as he walked into the broom shop, immediately spotting his twin who towered over the gaggle of students eyeing brooms.

"Hold on Matt, I'm thinking of buying this Firebolt thing. Looks like it's the newest model, top of the line, if I could figure out its workings, I could make this baby fly." Alfred yelped when he was grabbed by the ear and dragged out of the store. He sometimes forgot his older brother was almost as strong as him and had no problem dragging him around if he needed to.

"You can come back and drool over it later. Right now we're supposed to be visiting uncle Alistair, and he's waiting for us." Alfred huffed as the slightly older male finally released him outside of the shop. His expression changed when he noticed a familiar looking red head waiting.

"Hey uncle Al." He cheerfully greeted the older nation, "So what are we going to do today?"

"Well lad, I was thinking of showing you some of the sights and then giving you a tour of my magical school. I know you have your own, by the name of Ilvermorny if I remember correctly, but I thought you might like to see the school that influenced it."

"Sounds good to me, are we going to Apparate there?" The red haired nation nodded before offering his hands to the twins. Both had been able to Apparate for close to two centuries, but it would be safer for him to take him as they didn't know where exactly they were going.

First he took them to go see some of his more famous castles, from Stirling, to Edinburgh, to the castle trail. They were both awed by the design, as castles had never been in style in their countries. He then took them to visit the more residential areas, both of their favorites being his Isle of Skye. Finally, he wrapped it up with visits to his wilderness. He obviously took them to Loch Ness, introducing them to Nessie, as well as Loch Lomond.

By the end of the trip both twins were excited to see this magical school of his. They both figured it was probably in some sort of castle, as Scotland seemed to be packed with them. They were surprised when they found themselves in a small village of some sort and looked to their uncle in curiosity.

"The school has anti-Apparation wards around it to prevent people from just breaking in. This is the closest we can get to it through Apparation, we'll have to walk the rest of the way." He gestured behind them, and when they turned around, sure enough it appeared to be some sort of castle some ways off. They shrugged and started walking.

"Normally the school has wards around it that make it invisible to Muggles and stops them from entering on accident. The Headmaster can change the wards to keep other things out as well, as can the school herself. If she senses something evil is trying to enter, she'll prevent it from entering." Alfred nodded as he took this in. His own school had similar wards and could even wake its occupants if something was wrong.

As they got closer, both Alfred and Alistair could sense something was off about the school. The Scottish man knew the school better than anyone and knew something was upsetting her, while Alfred got more of a general feeling he learned to pick up from his own school. Mattie however continued walking as if nothing was wrong.

The twins walked a few feet ahead of the Scotsman, eager to see this school for themselves. They had both attended Ilvermorny quite regularly, returning every few years to check on how their magical citizens were learning. They did not see when Scotland found himself running into some sort of invisible barrier, and didn't notice he wasn't with them till he shouted their names.

They turned back and found the Scotsman standing in one place. "What's wrong?" Matthew asked, wondering why he hadn't followed.

"Something's stopping me, I can't get through." He put his hand out and it seemed to meet with some sort of invisible barrier. He then leaned on it with his whole body as if to demonstrate that it was completely preventing him from getting through.

"That's weird we got through just fine. See, let me show-what the hell?" The American shouted in response when he found that something was preventing him from rejoining his uncle. He pushed against it, normal at first, then using his full strength in an attempt try to break through. Matthew was also unable to pass through it from their side.

"Something's preventing me from entering and you from leaving. From my side it feels like it's the school trying to keep me out. Do you sense anything similar Alfred?" He knew the younger nation was more experienced with wards than his twin, after all he had seen Ilvermorny built from scratch the same way he had helped build Hogwarts from scratch. This usually lead to a strong bond between a nation and its school.

Alfred shook his head in response. "I don't know, it might be the school, something just feels wrong about it from this side."

"Why won't you let me through, what's wrong?" He half muttered to himself, hoping the school would respond. When he got none he turned his attention back to the twins who were now waiting for him to say something. "I'm going to go get Arthur and the Minister of Magic. Try to see if you boys can find any weak spots while I'm gone, either physical or magical." They nodded and split to check the strength of the ward.

Alistair ran back to Hogsmeade before nation hopping into his brother's territory. Nation hopping was similar to Apparating but had a much larger range and was exclusive to the nations. He needed to only think of a country, imagine himself there, and poof, it was done. It could be used to get halfway across the world in the blink of the eye. The only thing able to stop nation hopping were certain wards that a nation would put up during wars. Switzerland constantly had one up, despite there being no war at the moment.

He appeared in London and quickly searched for his younger brother's aura. He found him down in the Ministry of Magic with the minister. He quickly Apparated to his brother's location, startling both the nation and the minister.

"Bloody hell Alistair, couldn't you use the door like everyone else?" The blond nation growled at his older brother.

"Something's wrong with the ward at Hogwarts." He tried to say, being cut off by a very angry Britain.

"And why pray tell, does that give you the right to interrupt a meeting between me and my minister? It can wait until after we've finished talking. Now as I was saying minister." Arthur turned back to continue the conversation they were previously having.

Alistair decided to pull his trump card, as he knew his brother wouldn't listen any other way. "Alfred and Matthew are trapped inside of it." This stopped the British man dead in his tracks. Alistair knew this would do the trick, Arthur always had a soft spot for his former colonies and would drop anything he was doing if they were in danger.

"What do you mean they're trapped? The wards shouldn't prevent them from entering and exiting freely, no other nations have a problem with it. Hell, last year Germany and France attended with their schools."

"Wait, those two you mentioned, are they like you?" The minister asked, confused about why his nation was worried. Although it would make sense if they were also nations.

"Yes, Alfred is the United States while Matthew is Canada." Arthur responded before waiting for his brother to answer.

"There's some kind of ward keeping me out and keeping them in. I'm not sure what's keeping them in, but I think the school is preventing me from entering." At this Arthur's brow furrowed in confusion. The magical school had never prevented its own nation from entering. Sure Arthur occasionally pissed the Scotsman enough for the school to lock him out, but it had never done this. The bond between the nation and his school was too strong for one to be upset at the other.

"Perhaps we should speak to the Headmaster, he might be able to lower the wards to let Alfred and Matthew out, or even explain why you can't enter." Arthur suggested.

"I wouldn't recommend that England, Dumbledore's become a blathering fool wanting to take control of the ministry by spreading lies of He-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named returning." The minister spoke up, not trusting Dumbledore at all.

"Unfortunately if Alistair can't enter Hogwarts and convince it to lower its wards, we have no other choice. The Headmaster is the only one with the power to lower the wards around the school. We'll need to nation hop to get over there quickly, minister if you would grab my hand we can be in Edinburgh in the blink of an eye." The man nodded and grabbed his nation's hand.

From Edinburgh all three Apparated to Hogsmeade. They briskly walked up to Hogwarts, and while Alistair stopped, knowing where the ward was, Arthur slammed into it, falling back onto his butt. The Minister was able to pass through without a problem though, rejoining the two nations on the other side.

They heard a commotion coming from a section in the forest, and were relieved to see the New World twins emerge. "Any luck with the wards lad?" Scotland asked, hoping there was something.

"No, it's completely solid all the way around. We tried both magic and physical strength and nothing's giving." Alfred responded with a dejected look.

"Looks like we have no choice but to bring the Headmaster. Alistair, would you-?"

"Already on it, Expecto Patronum." The Scotsman had pulled out wand before uttering the spell and a silvery unicorn sprang from the tip. It also tried to pass the ward but when it found it couldn't, it pranced in front of it, unsure what to do. "What on earth?" All four nations stared in confusion as the spell faded, since it no longer had an destination or a purpose. Arthur was the first to recover and spoke to the blue eyed blond.

"Alfred, send a Patronus to the castle, have it find the Headmaster and tell him he's needed at the border." Alfred nodded, pulling his own wand out and cast the same spell his uncle had. A silver eagle flew from the tip, soaring back towards the castle.

Matthew decided to test if the ward prevented their Patronus from leaving. He pulled his wand out, muttered the spell, and from it sprung a giant silver bear. It sniffed around the ward cautiously, swiping at it with a translucent paw. The nations were surprised when the bear passed through the ward with no problem. It walked back and forth between the nations, meeting no resistance, before finally disappearing.

When England tried, his lion Patronus, much like Scotland's unicorn, was unable to pass through. "This doesn't make any sense. Both Alistair and I are much more powerful than either of you. If your Patronus is able to pass through, why isn't ours?"

"Maybe it has something to do with power levels. I mean, you and Alistair are incredibly powerful when it comes to magic. Maybe the school sees you as a threat and that's why it isn't letting you enter. Since Alfred and I aren't as powerful, it let us through." Matthew suggested, but Alistair shook his head.

"Hogwarts would never block me out, she knows I would never hurt her or anyone inside of her." Alfred nodded in understanding, he and his magic school sharing a similar connection.

Soon a rustling noise was heard from behind the twins, and they were joined by an old man with a really long beard. "Headmaster Dumbledore I assume?" Arthur asked, already sizing the man's magical prowess up. There was no doubt he was powerful, but even the young nations beside him were much stronger, the man was not much of a threat to any of them.

"You are indeed correct; may I ask why I was summoned here?" Dumbledore asked, wondering just what the Minister was doing here. They weren't exactly on the best of terms.

"Well Headmaster, my nephews and I were in Hogsmeade and I thought I might show them Hogwarts. They have never seen it as they are American and attended the American school of magic. However, while we walked, I found myself unable to pass a certain point. When they came back to check on my, they found they were unable to pass the same point on their side. We believe the school's wards may have accidently trapped them inside and now they can't get out." Alistair explained to him, Dumbledore nodding in understanding.

"We were wondering if it's possible for you to lower the ward so that they can pass through and we can continue on our way." Arthur finished up.

"Unfortunately Mr.-"

"Kirkland."

"Well Mr. Kirkland, unfortunately that won't be possible." The New World twins looked startled, the Celtic brothers looked upset, and the Minister looked furious.

"What do you mean by that Dumbeldore? Do you plan on keeping these boys prisoners in there?" He asked, this would not go over well with the American and Canadian Ministers of Magic.

"No, not like that. See, something has set the school on edge since the Triwizard Tournament. It might be possible that the school deems that it needs someone to protect it, and it has chosen these boys. If it has, I can unfortunately do nothing to help them out."

"So you're saying this school has chosen two random 19-year-old boys to protect 100's of students? That doesn't make sense Dumbledore." The twins huffed at being referred to as incapable of defending themselves and others. They were countries and they had seen war, they were far from defenseless, however they didn't say anything.

"I cannot claim to know how the school thinks minister; it works in mysterious way. May I make a suggestion?" Dumbledore asked as he noticed the green eyed blond looked ready to hurt someone. This got the others' attention.

"Go on." The minister said, cautious about Dumbledore and not wanting him to get his hands on the two North American countries.

"Perhaps they can attend Hogwarts for the year, as the school does not want to let them free. They could help protect the students if a need arose, and when the year ends, we can see if the school will release its on hold on them." This caused all 5 people to think.

" _I don't like this Al, something seems really weird about this._ " Matthew said switching to Iroquois, it was a language only the two of them understood, as the tribe's territory was in both America and Canada. Whenever they had the need to speak privately without the risk of others understanding them, they either used Iroquois or Sioux.

" _I know, the school isn't happy about something, I can tell. I'd ask uncle, but I don't think he can talk to the school while he's trapped out there."_

 _"Do you think it knows what we are? And that's the reason it trapped us in here?"_

 _"That doesn't make sense though, why would it trap us in here, but not let in Iggy or Ali? They're stronger in magic, it would make more sense for them to be in here and not us."_

The Celtic brothers watched as the twins babbled to each other in another language. Scotland didn't have a clue to what they could be saying, so he turned to Arthur. "Any ideas on what they're saying?"

England shook his head. "They're probably speaking in a Native American language. They used to do it a lot when they were younger and wanted to keep secrets. Their people were the only ones who learned it, although it was used in World War 2 as a code." He sighed as he ran his hand through his short blond hair.

He then switched to Welsh so nobody else could overhear. " **What are we going to do about this Alistair? We can't exactly leave America trapped in a magical school. As much as I hate to admit it, the world would be thrown in chaos if he disappeared."**

" **I don't think we have another choice, whatever has them trapped here isn't going to let them leave. Perhaps we can have their bosses send their paperwork to them here and they could still work on it while attending the school."** The two nations thought before the Ministers approached them.

"I don't think there's another option, is it possible for them to fulfill their duties while they're in the school?"

"We can ask them, Alfred, Matthew." The twins looked up from where they had been concentrating on talking. "If we asked your bosses, do you think they'd be able to mail your paperwork to you?"

"Probably, I mean, most of it is reading things through and signing approval." Alfred answered.

"Do you think you can have someone cover your more important meetings?" Arthur asked, the twins had smaller sections that could work independently, so it was possible to pass it on to one of them.

"Yeah, I can probably get Michael to take care of my meetings."

"And Edward already knows how to take care of things in case of an emergency."

"Well, it's best if you send a message to your bosses and charges to let them know you'll be gone for a year."

"Wait, you mean we seriously have to stay here? Dude, I've already graduated magic school, I don't want to go back." Matthew snorted at his brother's comment. "At least not some school I know nothing about."

"There's no other choice Alfred, we can't get you out of there, as the school seems to think that it needs you and your brother."

The American growled angrily as he slammed his fist into the barrier. He did not want to be stuck here, he had things he needed to do and stuff to take care of. Most importantly being overseeing the sorting and wand ceremony at Ilvermorny. There were still two important wands that needed to choose someone, and if he and Mattie weren't there to teach them how to be properly wielded it could lead to chaos.

"Now, you boys will have to be younger to attend this school. While you do look young, you would barely pass as a 16-year-old. You'll need to be de-aged slightly to appear at most, 15." The twins nodded and patiently waited for the Celtic nations to remember the spell. Thankfully it worked through the border and both returned to their pre-independence appearance.

"We'll get any supplies you might need for school, is there anything else you need?" Both boys thought intently.

"Well, our Ilvermorny textbooks and potions book would be helpful. Oh, can you send Liberty over? I'll need her to send the letters to my boss and Adam."

"Can you also bring Kumachichi? I don't want him to be all by himself." Matthew spoke up, worried about his polar bear cub.

"Right, textbooks and pets, that won't be a problem. Now I assume the Headmaster will escort you to the school and explain how things work there." He glared at the old man, threatening him to disagree. He was trusting two of his former colonies to this man, he did not want anything happening to them under his eye.

"Of course, right this ways boys." The young nations followed, America grumbling the entire way.

Arthur turned back to his Minister of Magic. "It might be better that we continue our conversation at another time. My brother and I need to talk." The minister nodded and when they reached Hogsmeade the Celtic nations nation hopped him back to England then went on their way.

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Welcome to the bottom everybody, what do you think? Did I write Scotland, England, America and Canada alright?

I believe I saw the idea of nation hopping in another fanfic on this site, although I can't remember the name of it. If anyone can tell me the name I will happily give credit to the writer. I also enjoy the headcanon that a country can tell when another country crosses their border.

I did research on the Native American tribes in North America to try to find a tribe that shared both America and Canada. I always enjoyed the idea of them using it when they wanted to speak privately, after all, those tribes were only native to them, and the language didn't spread far beyond, heck, we used it for codes during World War 2, since no other country knew it. I had the idea for a while, but a story by an author named silverheartlugia2000 motivated me to go through with the idea. While they did opt for Lakota, I dug a bit, and found that the Iroquois and Sioux territory stretched over what is now America and Canada. I decided to go for Iroquois, as it was closer to the original 13 colonies, but it could easily be swapped for Sioux. So any time you see * _this_ * know that they are speaking Iroquois, even if I don't say it.

That's all I have to say for now. Please feel free to tell me what you think, I will be updating quite soon, since at this point, chapter 3 is already finished and I have started on chapter 4. Love it, hate it, just review it. Buh-bye!


	2. Chapter 2

Hey everybody, I'm back with the next chapter. I want to thank everyone who Followed, Favorited, and Reiewed last chapter. Thank you guys so much.

In this chapter I talk a bit about Ilvermorny. Most of the information I got from Pottermore, so if anyone is curious about this info, go look it up. It's some very interesting read. I borrowed some of the descriptions from the Harry Potter Wiki, if anything looks familiar. Also, there will be Snape bashing, so if you like Snape, I apologize, but the twins will not find him likeable. That's it for up here, enjoy!

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Alfred whined as he, Mattie and the Headmaster walked up a path. Eventually the natural path led to a paved path and the front gates of the school. From there they walked up to a carriage that was being pulled by some sort of spooky horse like thing.

If they had to give it a name they supposed they could have called it a horse, though there was something reptilian about it too. It was completely fleshless, its black coat clinging to its skeletons, of which every bone was visible. Its head was dragonish, and its pupil-less eyes white and staring. Wings sprouted from each wither-vast black wings that looked as though they ought to belong to giant bats. Standing still and quiet in daylight, the creature looked eerie and sinister.

" _Whoa, that thing looks really creepy, what do you think it is Matt?"_ Alfred asked, switching to Iroquois so the Headmaster wouldn't understand.

" _I have no idea; it looks like some kind of horse. Maybe it's a shaman's familiar, they usually end up corrupted if the shaman uses his magic for evil."_ Matthew responded, remembering the time he had seen a corrupted moose familiar. The thing had nearly gored him to death, thankfully Kumachurro had been able to save him in time.

"I'm assuming neither of you boys have seen a thestral before." When he received a nod from the twins, he thought he'd give them a general run down. "Thestrals are magical creatures that can only be seen by those who have seen death. This one is part of the only domesticated herd in all of the UK, they're trained to pull the carriages up to Hogwarts itself." The twins nodded before walking up to the horse like creature.

The thestral moved its head to look at the twins. It could tell there was something different about these two, they weren't like the normal human children it carted around. They were older, wiser, and definitely more powerful. It snorted as the older of the two hesitantly reached out for it bowing its head respectfully to the beings. The younger reached out and patted its neck while the older rubbed its muzzle.

"It seems he has taken a liking to you two. Most of the time they don't acknowledge the other students, even if they were to walk right up to them." Dumbledore said as he watched the scene play out between the three. He was amazed to say the least, the thestrals never interacted with the students, besides whenever Hagrid introduced them in class, and even then they kept their distance. This one was allowing the twins to actually touch him.

He cleared his throat and smiled in amusement when both their heads shot up in surprise. "As much as I'm sure he enjoys the attention; we really must be going." They both nodded before climbing into the carriage.

As they rode, the twins went back to speaking to each other in another language. Now Dumbledore prided himself in being able to speak many, many languages, including some many considered dead, but for the life of him he couldn't figure out a thing they were saying.

 _"I can't believe we're trapped here, and Arthur and Alistair aren't doing anything about it."_ The blue eyed nation growled, still very much pissed about their situation.

 _"It's not like there's anything we can do about it Al. We already checked the wards for weaknesses, and even if their magic is stronger, I don't know if it would be enough to break it. Their spells couldn't even pass through."_

 _"They better believe my boss is going to be hearing about this, both magical and non-maj. As soon as Liberty gets here, I am sending the loudest Howler I can to this Minister of Magic."_ Matthew sighed as he saw his brother getting worked up, he knew he had to calm his twin down before he did something he regretted.

" _Easy Al, you can get mad when we get out of here. How do you think they Sort students here? I don't think they do it like back in Ilvermorny."_ Alfred perked up at that, he was always interested in the Sorting ceremonies and tried to see it every year back at home. He loved to see each students results and reactions to the Sorting, especially non-maj born. They were always surprised to see the statues move and choose them. The Wand Choosing ceremony was also a definite favorite of the twins, they usually had to attend if certain wands were present in the lineup.

"Umm, Professor Dumbledore, how does your school sort the students?" Alfred knew about the Houses somewhat from Arthur. He knew that the Celtic nations had all been a part of Slytherin House, which was known for its cunning and ambition.

"Students are Sorted into one of four Houses based on their personality. The brave and bold belong to Gyffindor, the just and loyal belong to Hufflepuff, the imaginative and intelligent belong to Ravenclaw, and the cunning and ambitious belong to Slytherin."

"Do the Houses choose the student like in Ilvermorny?" Alfred asked, wondering how it stood up against his own Sorting Ceremony.

"Not quite, although you may have to tell me about how you were sorted in your old school. At Hogwarts a wizarding hat has been spelled to be able to read a person's personality and decide which House they're best suited for. Now how was it done back at your school?" Neither twin was sure about this sorting method, if it was done at 11, it was likely a person's personality would change. Were they Sorted every year?

"Well, there are four statues in the entrance, symbolizing the four Houses, and they formed a square. There's the Horned Serpent, the Pukwudgie, the Thunderbird and the Wampus. A student would walk to the center of the square, and whatever House wanted that student would give a sign. If the Horned Serpent wanted them, the gem on its head would glow. If the Pukwudgie wanted the student it would raise its bow and arrow. If the Thunderbird wanted the student it would flap its wings, and if the Wampus wanted the student it would roar. If more than one House wanted the student, the student would get to pick from those that chose them." Alfred listed off.

"Ah, very interesting, did the Houses have their own traits?" Dumbledore asked out of curiosity. He had heard of the American magical school but had no clue about its Sorting ceremony.

"Sort of. It was more about what Houses favored in their students, Horned Serpent prefers scholars, Wampus prefers warriors, Pukwudgie prefers healers and Thunderbird prefers adventurers."

"Hmm, so what House were you two Sorted into?" He wanted to learn a bit more about these two new students.

"I'm a Pukwudgie." The violet eyed blond responded.

"And I'm a Thunderbird." The blue eyed blond crowed in pride.

"I didn't quite catch your names."

"I'm Alfred and this is my twin brother Matthew." The blue eyed blond jumped in before his twin could speak up. "Mattie's older by an hour, we were actually born on two different days. Our birthday was almost two months ago, the first and second of July."

" _Alfred."_ Matthew growled lightly, cutting his brother off. He didn't want his brother to reveal too much about themselves to the man.

Alfred grinned sheepishly before staring out of the window slipping into a daydream. As he zoned out, he found himself checking on his children. Thankfully the ward didn't stop him from checking the bond between him and all 50 of his kids. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary with them, nobody in any pain, nothing more serious than some slight irritation.

" _Hey Matt, are you able to check in with your kids?"_ Alfred asked.

" _I haven't checked yet, give me a sec._ " Matthew closed his eyes and checked the link between him and his own ten kids. He gave a sigh of relief when he was able to and they reassured him that everything was fine back home. " _Everything's fine back home, you?"_ Alfred nodded in response, Matthew understanding.

Soon the carriage came to a stop and the three climbed out. The nations gave farewell pats to the thestral and thanked it for the ride before joining Dumbledore at the front doors. They were huge and made of a heavy wood, bars of metal fused with the wood. Both twins gazed at it in awe, sure Ilvermorny was beautiful and had its own allure. This place was something else entirely, it radiated grandeur and elegance.

"Come along boys, we need to get you Sorted so that you can get comfortable in a room." They followed the Headmaster through the halls and into a ginormous room. It looked like it could fit hundreds of people at once, as well as tables that were as long as a football field. Overhead, the ceiling seemed to reflect what the weather had been like outside. A cloudless sunny sky.

At the moment the only thing in the hall was a single long table that looked like it was able to fit about 20 people. A woman was standing at the table, apparently waiting for them. "Ah Minerva, it appears we have two emergency transfer students attending Hogwarts. They can't leave school grounds and as such must wait until the beginning of the school year to attend classes with the rest of the students. They will need to be Sorted so they can get comfortable, but they haven't eaten since before they got here. Would you keep an eye on them while I go and get the Sorting Hat from my office?"

"Of course Albus, I'm sure the house elves wouldn't mind making them a quick snack." At those words a small pop sounded and a tray of sandwiches appeared on the table. The twins eagerly jumped on it, they hadn't eaten at all that day and were starving.

By the time Dumbledore had returned, they had both eaten to their heart's content. Alfred had been particularly excited when he discovered the plate automatically refilled itself. They were now sitting in two of the chairs, content expressions plastered on their face as their food digested.

"Boys, this is the hat that will decide which House you'll be joining for the rest of the year. It will get a read on your personality and place you where it sees fit. Now, which of you will go first?"

Alfred happily jumped up, he was curious about this magic hat and where it would put him. He took the seat in front of Dumbledore and had the hat put on.

'Interesting, very interesting. I haven't sorted one of your kind almost two centuries, the last one being the very man who raised you. I must say it is an honor to sort one of your kind though, as not many come my way. Now let's see about where you belong. You've got a great deal of courage and bravery, jumping into battle without a moment of hesitation. You protect those that are weaker and won't stand for any kind of injustice. You are a lot smarter than others give you credit for and you prefer to keep it that way, enjoying when you can catch your foes off guard with your quick thinking.

"Despite what others would think, you are very kind hearted and loyal. You try your hardest to please those who you consider your friends and would do everything within your power to protect them. Let's not forget your cunning and ambition. You wanted your independence and nothing was going to get in your way. You were able to convince those who had a grudge against your guardian to assist you in your fight, and through this, were able to achieve your goal.

"This is very difficult indeed, as you can fit in any of the Houses, but as you see yourself as a hero and do whatever you can to back this statement, better be GRYFFINDOR!" The hat shouted the last part out loud for the others to hear.

"Alright Matthew, your turn." Dumbledore said as Alfred went back to the seat he had occupied before. Matthew walked over to him before plopping down on the seat, the hat being placed on his head.

'Another one? I've never gotten the chance to sort two of you so close together, so that was your twin that I just finished with hmm? Now let's see, you are quite brave yourself, joining in on the war when even your brother wanted no part in it. You are a fierce fighter, your opponents fearing you during the war. You are incredibly chivalrous as well, the man who raised you would have it no other way. You are very intelligent, a great strategist when it came to war and incredibly observant of your surroundings. A trait you picked up when you first discovered your power of invisibility.

'You are incredibly loyal and kind hearted. You have forgiven your guardian despite him abandoning you and making no attempt to get you back. You have also forgiven the man who took you from your guardian in the first place. You constantly have your brother's back, despite what he says and does and even when it causes you problems. You have the patience to stay at your brother's side, no matter how frustrating he can be. You are not afraid of hard work, a trait you learned from your own people, and you prefer a fair fight, taking no pride in a fight that is anything but.

"While you are without a doubt both intelligent and brave, and you would do well in either of the three houses, I think we can both agree that you're most defining trait is your loyalty and your patience. With that, it better be HUFFLEPUFF!" The hat shouted for the others to hear.

As Mattie went back to take his seat beside his twin, Albus scooped up the hat. "Well Minerva, looks like you have a new charge to watch over until the rest of the students arrive. I will need to send an owl to Pomona letting her know she also has a new student. Alfred, this is your Head of House, Professor McGonagall, she also teaches Transfiguration." Alfred nodded in greeting. "Since Matthew's Head of House is currently not here to get him settled into a room, would you boys like to stay in the Main Hall until she arrives?"

"Can we look around the castle?" Alfred asked, eager to take a look around.

"Of course, I merely meant at night when you two needed to sleep."

"Sweet, let's go Mattie." The younger blond crowed, dragging his brother with him out of the Main Hall to wander the school.

"There's definitely something different about those two Albus."

"Believe me Minerva, I already know. There's something about them that the school thinks are best for protecting it and the students."

Meanwhile the twins were more than happy to wander the castle freely. Alfred was surprised to see that the castle had a life of its own. Staircases moved back and forth freely, doors seemed to vanish in front of their eyes and the people in portraits seemed to move between the other portraits.

The halls wound endlessly, making it very easy to get lost. However, the school made its presence known to the younger twin, guiding them through the maze of halls. Although Alfred couldn't understand word for word what the school was trying to tell him, he was able to get a general grasp on what it meant.

It showed them a few of its more interesting rooms, such as the Room of Requirement, the prefects' bathroom, the kitchen, and the entrances to the Houses. It didn't show them the inside of last two, but Alfred knew and explained to Matthew what they were.

Eventually the school led them back to the main hall for dinner. Neither were looking forward to dinner though, as they both had grown up with Arthur's cooking. They had sandwiches earlier, but even Arthur had a hard time screwing up sandwiches. That was nothing compared to a full course meal.

They were completely stunned when they saw the table full of edible looking food. None of it looked like coal or so badly burnt it was nearly a pile of ashes. Deciding to take one for the team, Alfred stepped forward and served himself some of the ham. It's not like it could kill either of them, but it could still hurt them. So he was willing to take a bullet to make sure it was safe for consumption.

He hesitantly took a bite and his eyes lit up with joy. "This is amazing, Mattie, you have to try this." He offered a forkful to his brother, coaxing him to the table.

"You're serious, this isn't a joke is it? You know how dangerous Arthur's food is, you better not be playing around Al." Matthew growled, unsure if his brother was pulling his leg.

"I'm 100 percent serious Mattie, you can eat this stuff, watch." Alfred then proceeded to shove the food into his mouth, swallowing with gusto. "See? Nothing happened to me, now come on and eat."

Matthew sighed dejectedly before taking the seat next to his twin. He only took a small portions of food, not wanting to trust his brother. He practically had an iron stomach and could handle most things, Arthur's food being his only weakness. After the first spoonful he was surprised to find his brother had been correct. Not only was the food edible, it was absolutely delicious. Granted it couldn't hold a candle to say, his Papa's cooking or the Italian brothers, but very few could.

They were joined by the Headmaster and Professor McGonagall, as well as a few more men and women. A very small man took the seat to Alfred's left while a woman wearing glasses took the seat on Mattie's right. The man beside Alfred was quite short, had a shock of white hair, and wore green robes. The woman who sat next to Matthew had an even weirder look to her, she was very thin and had frizzy brown hair; her large glasses magnified her light green eyes to several times their natural size and she was draped in gauzy, spangled shawl. Innumerable chains and beads hung around her spindly neck, and her arms and hands were encrusted with bangles and rings.

Across from Alfred sat a man that had his 'hero sense' ringing. He seemed to radiate pure evil in Alfred's opinion. The man's shoulder length black hair was greasier than most of the stuff served in his fast food restaurants. His nose was so hooked that reminded him of the Wicked Witch from Snow White and the Seven Dwarves, and his sallow skin and yellow teeth did nothing to help the image. He seemed to have a sneer permanently attached to his face. Everything about him screamed 'villain' to Alfred and he knew he wouldn't trust the man.

" _Hey Matt, I don't trust this guy in front of me. Everything about him seems wrong."_ Matthew sneaked a glance at the man his brother was talking about. It took quite a lot for something to make Alfred not trust someone. His brother was usually very open minded when it came to others.

However, after catching a glimpse of the man, he had to agree with Alfred. Something about the man seemed off, like he was secretly plotting how to hurt them.

 _"Whoa, he is kind of creepy, do you think he's one of the teachers here?"_ He asked, curious about what a man like him was doing here.

 _"God I hope not; he'd probably end up poisoning people in their sleep or something like that."_ Alfred replied, if this dude was a teacher, he might have to go full hero mode to protect the students.

Matthew was about to reply when the man cut him off. "And what pray tell is so important for the two of you to talk about that you need to do it in a language none of us can understand." The man's voice dripped with contempt and both twins bristled at the tone.

"I don't believe that's any of your business." Alfred responded with a growl. "That's kind of the point of speaking in another language."

"And what exactly are two boys, who I have never seen before, doing here before the rest of the students have even boarded the train?"

"Ah, I believe I can explain that Severus." The two nations jumped when the Headmaster appeared out of nowhere and the greasy haired man sneered at them.

Dumbledore cleared his throat, getting the attention of the other people sitting at the table. "As some of you may have noticed, we have two extra guests with us today. Alfred and Matthew Kirkland," Alfred gave a soft huff at that, "Have come to us under unfortunate circumstances. Their uncle had come to Hogwarts to show the boys around, as they had been visiting from North America. However, when the boys attempted to leave, they found that they could not get past the school's wards.

"Together, their uncle, guardian, the Minister of Magic and myself have agreed that it was best that they stay in Hogwarts until the end of the school year. They will be attending as fifth years and have already been sorted into their Houses. Alfred has been placed in Gryffindor while Matthew has been placed in Hufflepuff. When Pomona returns they will be shown to their rooms and settled in. Until then they will be staying in the Great Hall at night. Boys, I would like to introduce you to those who will be teaching you this year.

"Alfred the man standing beside you is Professor Flitwick, he is the Head of Ravenclaw House and is the Charms Professor. Matthew, the lovely woman beside you is Professor Trelawney, she is the Divinations Professor, which is an elective you can take. The man across from you is Professor Snape, Head of Slytherin and Potions Professor. I've already introduced you two to Professor McGonagall, and the last Professor present is Professor Grubby Planks. She is temporarily teaching Care of Magical Creatures." The twins nodded in greeting as they were introduced to each person before everyone tucked into their meals.

Eventually the table was cleared as everyone finished eating. Most of the professors left to their rooms but Minerva stayed behind to make sure the boys were settling okay. "Would you boys like me to conjure some blankets for you?" She asked.

"No thanks, we've got this." Alfred pulled out his wand and conjured up a pair of sleeping bags for him and his twin. Minerva couldn't help but stare, that was quite advanced for someone their age, most students at their age were barely able to conjure up a teacup, and yet he had conjured up two large sleeping bags. She shook it off before heading up to her own quarters to sleep, she could think about it in the morning, or even later on, she would have one of them in her House for the entire year after all.

Alfred yawned as he settled down into his sleeping bag. Today had been an interesting one to say the least, but at least he and Mattie were safe. "Hey Matt, you okay?" He asked, not even bothering to switch to their Native tongue. There was no one around to hear them, and they weren't going to be talking about anything too private.

"Yeah, just thinking."

"Ah, you got to stop doing that bro, you're going to stress yourself out. Let yourself relax and stop worrying yourself, you'll end up working yourself to the bone." Matthew chuckled softly at that.

"It's nothing as important as work Al. I was just thinking about what the Sorting Hat said during my Sorting. It seemed like it could have put me in three of the houses, it said that although I was brave and intelligent, my most defining thing was my loyalty."

"Really? Well, that is true, you always have my back, even when I act like a jerk, and you forgave Dad and Papa after everything that happened when you were little. It actually said I could fit in any of the four Houses."

"But because of your hero complex it thought you'd do best in Gryffi, right?" Matthew asked, already figuring out the reason for his brother's placement.

"Yup, wait, Gryffi?" Alfred looked at his brother in confusion.

"Yeah, it's short for Gryffindor. The names are kind of long so I thought I'd give them nicknames. Gryffi for Gryffindor, Puffie for Hufflepuff, Raven for Ravenclaw and Slythi for Slytherin."

"I like it, so I'm a Gryffi and you're a Puffie, think it'll be like back at Ilvermorny?" Alfred asked, they hadn't attended together in years, although they would attend occasionally attend a class when bored, like college.

"Maybe, try not to totally hate it here though Al, at least give it a chance." Matthew said, giving a large yawn.

"I'll give it a chance but I can't make any promises that I'll like it." Matthew nodded, that was probably the best he could hope for. "Night Mattie."

"Night Alfie." Both twins soon slipped into sleep.

~/~/~/~/~/~/~/~/~/~/~

Welcome to the bottom guys, how did you enjoy it? Are the twins still in character? I'm still not that great at writing them.

I had a little bit of help for their Sorting from my friends, who essentially read the twins bios and told me what they think made them fit in each House. I was attempting to make them fit in all four Houses, but none of us were able to find anything really Slytherin about Matthew, so I only made it to where he fit in the other three.

I had also planned for the Sorting to be relatively even, where neither of them knew where the Hat was going to put them. I think I succeeded in Alfred's, as each House only got two or three sentences. Matthew's however, turned out to be a little biased, as I myself am a Hufflepuff and I pulled a lot of things from his fandom persona. It ended up having an entire paragraph dedicated to it.

That's all I have for now. Until next time, love it, hate it, just review it. Buh-bye!


	3. Chapter 3

Hey everybody, I'm back with another chapter. If you guys have noticed, I kind of now have a schedule for uploading. I'll be trying to update this story every 8 days, and as long as I'm able to keep writing chapters in advance, this schedule shouldn't change. This is actually the first time any of my stories actually has a schedule, as the others are updated when I finish a new chapter.

I got two reviews last chapter that made me realize I forgot to bring this up. I had planned on editing it in last chapter after it had been uploaded but I decided to just save it for this chapter. I do not plan on making this a slash story. I have nothing against slashes, I really don't, but I want to write a story that is free of slash for those who wish to enjoy a story and not be bothered by slashes.

I want to thank everyone who reviews. You guys are my driving force and motivate me to write even more. So please, if you have something you want say, have a suggestion or want something clarified, or even just want to say what you think, please leave a review. Nothing makes me happier than to receive that little email letting me know I've gotten another one. I also want to thank those who have Favorited and Followed this story. Thank you guys so much for giving me and this story a chance, so with that, enjoy!

Edit: As someone has kindly pointed out, I accidently said Vermont was Alfred's older child. I had made a mistake and said Vermont, but I actually meant Delaware. I'm not sure how that happened, but it is now fixed. I also changed the name he says in the first chapter, as I have my own names for the states, Delaware is Michael while Vermont is Adam, so he will now say he's sending things to Michael and not Adam. Thank you so much Amberwolf2377 for pointing it out, you are a life saver.

~.~.~.~.~

When morning rolled around, Alfred found himself roused by incessant pecking at his ear. He grumbled and tried to swat the nuisance away. It was too early to be up, he doubted it was even 9 yet, he wasn't usually up before 10. He yelped when whatever had been gently pecking at his ear turned its attention to his hand and pecked it hard.

He shot up with a glare, ready to murder whatever disturbed his precious sleep. He was surprised however to see his beloved national bird looking at him with indignation. Beside her sat a leather bag with a note attached to it. When he heard a small snuffling noise he turned to see a polar bear cub snuggling up with Matthew. Alfred grabbed the letter from the bag and settled back into his sleeping bag to read it.

 _Alfred,_

 _I was able to find your books and pets with relative ease. I have placed the books in a bag that stretches to fit a large number of objects as I believe it would be much easier for your eagle to carry. I recommend you also use it to hold the paperwork you send and receive from your boss, there is another inside the bag for Matthew to use so your paperwork doesn't get mixed up and cause hysteria. I will be sending the supplies you both require for school through owl, as I did not want to prevent you from sending a message to your boss by keeping your eagle. I have both of your measurements for robes from when you were both living with me, as well as a list of everything else you'll need for school. If there is anything else either of you need, just send me an owl._

 _Until next time,  
Arthur_

 _P.S.: Matthew make sure your brother doesn't do anything stupid and stays out of trouble._

Alfred grabbed the bag and opened it, pulling out all of his Ilvermorny textbooks, as well as a matching pair. They were the more recent ones; one's students had needed from up to 10 years ago. He had many more back at his house, but Arthur seemed to have picked only those a current fifth year would be required to have.

He pulled out an identical bag to the he one held and an ancient looking book. It was wrapped in deer skin and the pages were worn and weathered. The words on them were still clear as day, and while most the pages were written in English, the first few were written in a language only he, Mattie and their native people understood. This was his and Mattie's book of Potions. It held the recipes of all the Potions they ever learned to make, including those known only to the once great being that was Native America. She had shared her Potion secrets with her sons before the English and French had arrived. In fact, she had written those in another language herself, as the twins were far too young to write when she had taught them. It was one of the few things they had to remember their mother.

"Hey Matt, wake up, Liberty and Kumajiro are here." He was met with only a grumble and his brother slightly turning. Alfred grinned mischievously as he made his way over to his twin, he lightly pushed the polar bear cub away from his brother before going in for the attack.

Matthew was woken by a tickling sensation in his side. He tried to smack it away, but it came back even stronger than before. He couldn't help but let a giggle escape as he rolled to try to escape from it, but it followed him, no matter which way he turned. Finally, his eyes opened as he burst into a giggling fit, turning on his attacker.

He wasn't surprised to find his brother behind the attack. He retaliated by returning the attack on his brother. They both tried to get the upper hand but ended up tangled in a pile, stuck in the middle of a giggling fit. They both bolted upright at the sound of somebody clearing their throat. They turned to see their least favorite professor at the entrance to the Great Hall.

"As interesting as that was to witness, I need to remind you that you are not the only ones in the castle. It is time for breakfast and you're preventing everyone else from eating." The twins grinned sheepishly at each other, refusing to give that look to the man. They untangled themselves and stood up, they straightened themselves out and Banished their sleeping bags.

Matthew scooped up Kumajenga, earning a small 'Who are you?' From the bear. "I'm Canada." He muttered low enough for only the bear to hear him. He watched as Alfred scooped a bunch of books into two bags and recognized the last one he was holding in his hand.

"Hey, isn't that our Potion book?" He asked, wondering when Alfred had gotten it.

"Yeah, dad sent it over with our textbooks, Liberty and Kumajiro. Remember, we asked him for this stuff yesterday?" Alfred asked, handing Mattie a bag and slipping the Potion book into his own bag. Liberty flew up and landed on Al's shoulder, using it as a perch.

"Oh yeah, what's the letter say?" Matthew asked, looking at the paper his brother now held.

"Just that he didn't have too much of a problem finding our textbooks and pets. He's sending the other supplies we'll need by owl and that these two bags are to hold our paperwork, it's enchanted to be larger on the inside. Also, if we need anything to owl him." Alfred explained.

"Makes sense." Matthew said as he conjured up a pen and three sheets of paper. He walked over to the dining table and started to write a letter to his president, his Minister of Magic, and Quebec, explaining the situation. He also requested that all paperwork from the president and Minister be mailed through Liberty and that Quebec take his place at the world meeting.

Meanwhile Alfred was doing the same thing for his oldest son, Delaware. Besides being the oldest, he was the one who spent most his time helping Alfred with his paperwork and with world problems, so hopefully the state wouldn't have too many problems taking his father's place temporarily. When finished he conjured up three envelopes and sealed them before tying them to Liberty's left leg. Matthew did the same with her right.

As they finished, the table filled up with food and teachers started trickling in. Alfred grabbed a goblet and found it full of juice. He huffed when he couldn't find a single drop of coffee anywhere, who did he have to kill around here to get some coffee? He decided to brush it off for now and started piling food on his plate and shoveling it into his mouth.

People they didn't know came in and the twins looked up in curiousity. Were these also teachers or did the school have its own staff? Their thoughts were interrupted by Dumbledore appearing at their side.

"Good morning boys, I trust you slept well?" When he received a nod from both boys he smiled, "Good, good. Well, as you can see, more professors are arriving, and as the school semester starts tonight, even more will be trickling in throughout the day. Matthew, this lovely lady is Pomona Sprout, she is the Head of Hufflepuff House and teaches Herbology. After breakfast, your Heads will show you to your common rooms and place you in a room. Now, I may not be able to introduce you to all your professors today but I will try."

The twins were then introduced to Professor Sinistra, their Astrology teacher, Madam Hooch, the Quidditch referee as well as the Flying instructor, Madam Pomfrey, the school nurse, and the professors for the other three electives. This left them curious about the electives they could choose from. They split up and spent the rest of breakfast looking at the options. Matthew talked to the professors that taught Arithmancy, Divination and Ancient Runes, while Alfred talked to the ones that taught Care of Magical Creatures and Muggle Studies.

By the time they regrouped, both had a pretty good grasp on the subjects. "Dude, Muggle Studies is an absolute joke." Alfred said as soon as his brother sat down. "They learn things like 'What runs of electricity and how does it work' 'What's the purpose of a rubber duck' and 'The magical non magic of cars'."

Matthew snickered at that, his brother had an affinity for all things electric, due to his people discovering it and his close relationship with the mythical Thunderbird. Things like that would definitely piss him off. "Well, I think it's safe to say that Divination is about the same. Did you know they still use crystal balls and tea leaves to 'read your future'?"

"Seriously?" Alfred asked, stunned. "I mean, I love fake fortune tellers as much as the next guy, but that's ridiculous." Matthew nodded in agreement.

"Arithmancy seems alright, although it also looks like a more complicated version of math. Ancient Runes seems promising though. They look at old Celtic, Nordic and Germanic runes to list a few."

"Oh, sweet, we could probably get help from the Matthias, Dad and Gilbert if we took that class. Care of Magical Creatures is a must though. Did you know 4 years ago they had a Cerberus here? And 2 years ago they had hippogriffs, which are like a hybrid of a griffon and a horse, and last year there were even dragons, although it wasn't part of the class."

Matthew grinned at the prospect. The two Native American countries always had a close bond with the mythical creatures of their land. They had both bonded with elemental birds, they had both awaken their spirit animals at a young age, Alfred was constantly playing with the Trickster, and Matthew had received Kumajalapeno as a gift from the great bear spirit, Nanook himself. "We're definitely joining that class." Matthew said, his brother nodding in agreement.

"Alfred, if you would come with me, I need to show you your House common room and where you'll be sleeping for the next year." The twins were interrupted by Professor McGonagall.

"Oh, no problem, see you at lunch Matt." He said as he stood up, waving to his brother before following the woman. They headed up several flights of stairs before coming to a portrait of rather portly woman.

"Password?" The woman asked.

"Mimblus Mimbletonia." The woman on the portrait nodded and it swung open, revealing it as a hidden door. "To enter you'll need to know the password. It may change from time to time, but your prefect will notify you if it does. If you don't know the password, you will have to wait for another Gryffindor to let you in." Alfred nodded in understanding. Back at Ilvermorny they had a similar security system, although passwords usually only changed at the beginning of the year. The Houses also tended to be more forgiving to the younger students, letting them in if they'd forgotten the password, as long as it wasn't a constant problem.

She led him through a very plush, extremely comfortable looking common room up to the boy's dorms. "Now, each room usually contains 5 boys, rooms are assigned at the beginning of a student's first year and they remain in that room with their roommate until they complete their seventh year. That room is then assigned to a new group of first years and it cycles."

They walked down a hall passed several doors before coming to a stop. "Now, as you would expect, not every year has a multiple of 5 of boys coming in. This room currently only has 4 boys in it, and you will be staying in here for the year." She opened the door and Alfred saw 5 beds set up in a crescent shape. There were large four poster beds, and most were bare. He was surprised when one of the beds next to a window in the back had some of his stuff on it.

"It appears your guardian has already sent your stuff in and the house elves have brought it up. Now there are a few things you must know. There is a curfew, and it is 11 sharp, if you are caught out of the common room after, you will receive a detention. Fighting is not permitted, whether it be physical or magical. The girls' dorm is off limits, there is no punishment for trying to get in, but there are things to prevent you from getting in. Any questions?"

"Yeah, do I have to worry about people going through my stuff? I have really important things that I can't let others look at." This caused McGonagall to gaze at the blond with suspicion, what could a 15-year old possibly have that others couldn't look at?

"You will have to bring it up with your roommates, although if they take anything you can speak to me and they will be punished. Is that all?" When he nodded she said "I'll leave you to unpack your bags, make sure to come down for lunch."

Alfred nodded in response and went to the bed that was apparently his. He found a chest filled with textbooks, robes, and Potions ingredients. He made a note to himself to send Liberty to Massachusetts with a list of ingredients he might need later. The chest seemed to hold the supplies he would need for this school year. On the bed sat another bag that held some of his personal items, including some of his favorite comic books, posters of his favorite cars, and his blanket that showed his 50 states and his pillow with a case that had his flag's design on it.

He hung up his posters, laid his bedding out, and put his comics in the bag with his Ilvermorny textbooks. He stashed that in his chest before heading down to the common room.

Matthew, meanwhile, was following the woman Dumbledore had introduced as Professor Sprout. "Now down this hall, you'll find a painting of fruit. If you tickle the pear, it'll turn into a doorknob and from there just the follow the hall and you'll arrive at the kitchen. If you ever want something to eat, the house elves will be more than happy to whip something up for you." They came to a stop in a cellar with a pile of barrels.

"This is the entrance to the Hufflepuff common room." When she caught the confused look on the blonde's face she gave a small chuckle. "Don't worry, I'll explain. You see, in the entire history of Hogwarts, the Hufflepuff common room is the only one that has never been seen by someone outside of the Hufflepuff House.

"That is due to our entrance being the only one with a defense mechanism, see, in order for a student to order, they need to tap the lids of these barrels in a certain order to a certain rhythm. If someone were to attempt to enter, and tap the wrong barrel lid or do it to the wrong rhythm, the top barrel will open, douse them in vinegar, and bar them from entering. Now, the password has stayed the same since the school was founded. So you only have to memorize this one password and you're good for the rest of the year. Now watch closely."

Matthew watched as Professor Sprout pulled out her wand and tapped the barrel lids in a rhythm he quickly memorized. The lids swung open to reveal a small passageway. It wasn't large enough for either to stand up in, but it was big enough for them to crawl through. Matthew followed his Head of House down a slight decline, and they climbed into a very comfortable and welcoming common room.

The room was round, earthy, low ceilinged, welcoming and warm. There were lots of yellow hangings, burnished copped, and overstuffed sofa and armchairs upholstered in yellow and black. There were circular windows through which you could see the grass outside. The floors, rafters, and panels were made of a honey colored wood and the walls made of a light tan stone.

There was a variety of plants scattered around the room, resting on windows, or hanging from the ceiling. In the back, opposite of where they had entered was a large, honey colored wooden mantelpiece with carvings of badgers on it. Above it was a portrait of a woman Matthew swore he must have read about before. On both sides of the wall were barrel lids that led to other rooms. There were 7 on each side and placed in a zigzag fashion.

She led him to the third barrel lid to their left. "To get to the room you'll be staying in, take a left at the first fork, and then take the path on the right. The house elves already brought your stuff in and put it on the bed that's yours. Take however much time you need to unpack but try to make it in time for lunch, I'm sure your brother would go on a rampage if you went missing."

Matthew chuckled playfully, "You have no idea. I forgot to tell him I was visiting my Papa for a week, and when I came back, he had torn up half my country looking for me, don't tell him I told you that though."

"Don't worry, your secret is safe with me, now off you go." She shooed him away, watching as he crawled through the opening.

Matthew followed his professor's instructions and ended up in an almost empty bedroom. The room was circular just like the common room, the room itself had darker tones to it. The bottom half of the walls were a light tan color while the top half were made of a brown wood. The trim and the floor were made of dark oak wood. The entire room was illuminated by warm copper lamps.

The beds were positioned in a crescent shape around the room and had a few feet between them. The beds themselves looked warm and inviting. There were large four poster beds covered in patchwork quilts. Besides the beds on the walls were copper bed warmers.

On the bed closest to his left sat a chest. He went through it and found school supplies and robes for the school year. There were also some of his casual clothes from back home, his favorite hockey stick, a few large jugs of his favorite maple syrup, and his Canadian flag pillowcase. He chuckled when he saw it, it had been a gift from his brother on his last birthday. He had said something about patriotism and had proceeded to show him his own that was the US flag.

He put the pillowcase over his pillow and put the books from his bag into the chest and stashed the bag away. He put Kumasan down on the bed and sat down on the edge. "Do you think Edward will be able to take care of things back home?"

"Who?" The bear cub asked, looking up at the country.

"Edward, Kuma, you know, my oldest kid?" Matthew asked, knowing there wasn't really a point in explaining to the bear. He only said a few words, and 'Who' was one of his favorites. The cub didn't even know who he was half the time.

"Who?" Point proven.

"Forget it Kuma, let's go check out the common room. Then maybe we can go to the kitchen and see if they have some fish for you." The bear snuffled excitedly and jumped off the bed, pawing at his human's leg to try to get him to move faster.

Matthew laughed and stood up. "Alright, alright, I'm coming." He headed back to the common room, letting the polar bear cub follow him. It was easier for him to get through the tunnels without having to carry the cub, he was very heavy for his size.

Matthew explored the common rooms a little. The two lids to the side of the fireplace led to huge bathrooms, with several baths and plenty of toilets. He assumed the one to the left was for the boys while the one to the right was for the girls, in a set up similar to the dorms.

He headed out of the common room and down the hall the professor had mentioned before. When he got to the painting of the fruit, he tickled the pear and sure it enough, it turned into a small green doorknob. He turned it and found another hallway, there was only one way to go and it led to a single door.

When Matthew opened the door he was surprised to see the size. The place was huge, just as big as the Great Hall above them. There were hundreds of small creatures running around, they had bat like ears and large eyes. Most wore a dishtowel as a shirt and pants, and they barely reached his torso.

A few scurried over to him, falling all over themselves to reach him. "Hello sir. Is there anything we can get for you?" One asked, bouncing in excitement to please him.

"Do you guys have any raw fish? My bear likes fish and he likes it raw." Matthew asked, scooping said bear up before he could get into trouble.

"Oh, certainly sir, we have some we are going to cool for dinner, but he can have some. If you like, we can order some for him later, just let us know what his favorite is and we'll get it." One rushed forward with a plate of salmon. Kumajiro squirmed in his arms, whining to be let down. Matthew released him and he rushed forward towards the creature. It placed the plate down and he jumped on it, scarfing down the pieces.

"Calm down there Kumakoala, don't eat it so fast." The cub glanced up at him before going back to eating. "He likes tuna and icefish. I should send a letter to Laura so she can send me some seal blubber when Liberty gets back." He said the last part more to himself.

"Is there anything we can get you sir?" Another elf asked.

"Oh, no thanks, I'm going to join my brother in the Great Hall, if you don't mind me asking, what exactly are you guys?

"We don't mind sir; we are house elves, we serve Hogwarts and the people inside of it. We make the food and we clean the castle." One responded.

"So you guys are paid to do all of this?" This caused some of the house elves, looking at him in shock.

"No sir, we serve the Headmaster and school for our entire lives, we don't get paid." This stunned the nation, even servants were supposed to be paid for their services. These house elves worked their entire lives without seeing a single penny for it. "Is something wrong sir? Did something we say upset you?" The ones around him looked upset.

"Not at all. It's just, where I'm from, that's known as slavery and a lot of people there are very particular about that. I mean, it's not as huge a thing as in my brother's country, but it's still an iffy topic. Do you guys mind doing this?" He asked, he knew back in the days, the slaves hated their situation, it was never easy for them.

"Oh we love it sir, it brings us great pleasure to serve the school and the Headmaster. It's an honor to serve such a great Master." Matthew nodded in understanding.

"I see, just, try not to let my brother know you're here. He'd probably freak out and try to emancipate all of you." The house elves agreed before letting him and Kuma go back up.

~.~.~.~.

Welcome to the bottom everybody, did you enjoy? I wanted to ask you guys, since the twins are in different Houses and will have different class, when I switch perspectives, should I add a line break? I know it can be confusing if the perspective is changed without warning, so I wanted to know if you guys would like that.

Now a few months ago I started another Harry Potter crossover where the main character got Sorted into Hufflepuff. When I tried to go find information on the common room and dorm rooms for it, I got next to nothing. So I decided to look up fanart of what people thought these rooms would look like. I used the meager description given on the Wiki for the common room and added my own descriptions for things that were also in the picture. The rooms were even worse, as we are merely told the get quilts and copper bedwarmers, so the entire description was based on the picture I looked up. Unfortunately, since Fanfiction is very finicky about URLs I can't give you the actual pictures I got them from. The most I can do is tell you guys to look up Hufflepuff common room and Hufflepuff dorm room.

My friends and I had agreed before this story had even made it to the computer that Al would be very upset at the thought of house elves due to his history with slavery and the similarities. While Matthew would be kind of bothered it wouldn't impact him as much. I tried to look up info about slavery in Canada, but besides the fact that it wasn't as big there as it was in America and that it also didn't cause a civil war, there wasn't anything really major. So I figured Matthew wouldn't be extremely upset about it. Alfred would probably fund SPEW personally a start an Underground Railroad for house elves though.

Anyways that's all for now guys, as I said above, reviews motivate me and give me life, so love it, hate it, just review it. Buh-bye!


	4. Chapter 4

Hey guys, welcome to the new chapter, right on schedule. I was actually really eager to get the next chapter out to you guys but I had to hold myself back. I'm currently up to chapter 8 on the prewritten chapters and I know I need this time to keep writing so you guys can get regular updates.

In this chapter I make use of one of my headcanons. My headcanon is that as twins, Alfred and Matthew share their special abilities, but their second ability isn't as strong as the other's natural. As such, while it is his main ability, Alfred may be able to lift, say, 10 tons, but since super strength is Mattie's secondary ability, he can only lift 8. And while Matthew can maintain his invisibility for hours and without any problems, Alfred can only maintain it for an hour at most and things can break his concentration.

For the most part, I took the Opening Feast from the text. I did alter it a bit to fit Al's point of view, but other than that, it's the same. Also, I apologize if calling Voldemort, a wizard Hitler insults anyone, but I feel it's something Al would definitely associate Voldemort as.

I want to thank everyone for their reviews, again, they are my main motivator and I will love every single one of you for sending them. I also want to thank everyone new to this story for giving me and this story a chance. I hope I can live up to your expectations. That's all for up here, I hope you guys enjoy.

~.~.~.~.~

The rest of the day passed without a problem. Alfred and Matthew made sure to let their Heads know what electives they wanted to take and continued exploring the castle. Matthew made sure to steer his brother clear of the kitchen.

Eventually though the sky started to darken and the twins knew they had to return to the Great Hall. They were surprised to see it transformed. Now, instead of a single table there were 4 huge ones sitting vertically and another long one sitting horizontally at the back of the hall.

In between the two middle tables stood Headmaster Dumbledore. "Good evening boys, I trust you've settled into your rooms well enough?" When he received affirmation from both of them he continued. "Now, as you know, in a few minutes the rest of the Hogwarts students will be arriving.

"The tables are assigned by House. The one to your far left is Slytherin, while the one closest to our left is Ravenclaw, the closest to our right is Hufflepuff and the one to our far right is Gryffindor. While there are no rules stating that you must sit at your House's table, I recommend you sit at it at least tonight. Get to know your Housemates and let them know where you're placed." When both twins nodded in agreement he smiled. "I recommend you take your seats now while nobody else is here."

"See you after dinner than Mattie." Alfred said, patting his twin on the back, causing the other to stumble slightly.

"Yeah see you after dinner Al, try not to cause any trouble." He reminded his younger twin before they split to sit at their respective table.

Alfred used the time to check in with his children. It seems Michael had gotten his message and wouldn't have a problem with filling in for the meetings. Next he checked in with Benjamin for the Potion ingredients. His son had no problem getting the ingredients he needed, he just needed a way to send it to him. He could go to the wizard post office and send it through owl, but there all kinds of rules about what could and couldn't be sent through them, so Liberty was really the only other option.

Alfred was pulled out of his thoughts when students started piling into the Great Hall. They split in half, then in half again to get to their designated House tables. He got several stares and could hear mutters coming from some of the people around him but he ignored it and chose to watch those who sat closest to him. He doubted any of them were his people, since this was a school for the UK, so he wouldn't really know anyone here, besides Mattie obviously

He could hear everyone around him gossiping about the previous school year, the latest news, and what they'd done over the summer. It didn't seem like anyone was paying any attention to him anymore. Sometimes he was glad Mattie had taught him to harness his invisibility power. It came in handy when he wanted information.

For the most part they were talking about a kid named Harry Potter and some dude who they called He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. Alfred swore he'd heard Arthur talking about him a few times. The first time must have been like 15 years ago, something about stopping a wizard Hitler when he was a baby.

Alfred perked up when he heard someone mention something about a person being murdered at the school. That sounded serious, if something was killing people, they shouldn't just be gossiping about it. Granted, if it was only one person, it wasn't like it would make front page news. Still, murder was not something to take lightly.

Alfred let his invisibility slip before turning to the students who he had heard talking about it. "Did you guys say something about a murder happening here last year?"

The two students gossiping jumped in their seats. Neither had noticed the blond sitting there so it had scared the living daylights out of them when he spoke. When their heart beat slowed down to normal, one of them responded.

"Yeah, Cedric Diggory was killed last year during the Triwizard Tournament. Harry Potter claims He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named killed him, but nobody really knows what happened. Everyone thinks Potter's gone crazy, Dumbledore too. How do you not know this, weren't you here last year?" The girl asked.

"No, I just transferred here from America with my twin brother. We don't really get news from Europe over there, so I really don't know what's going on."

"Oh, that explains the accent. Well, I'd be more than happy to fill you in on what exactly has been going on with 'the boy who lived.'"

Like she had said, the girls were more than happy to talk about Harry Potter. He seemed to have a hero complex, though not nearly as prominent as Alfred. He seemed to find a way to get into trouble every single year, and the Ministry now proclaimed him as a lying, attention seeking prat. Alfred severely doubted this. Arthur always spoke of him with the utmost of praise, the nation wouldn't speak so highly of him if he was what the others claimed him to be.

The gossip was cut off when the doors from the entrance hall opened. A long line of scared-looking first years entered, led by Professor McGonagall, who was carrying a stool on which sat an ancient wizard's hat, heavily patched and darned with a wide rip near the frayed brim.

The buzz of talk in the Great Hall faded away. The first years lined up in front of the staff table facing the rest of the students, and Professor McGonagall placed the stool carefully in front of them, then stood back. The first years' faces glowed palely in the candlelight. A small boy right in the middle of the row looked as though he was trembling.

The whole school waited with bated breath. Then the rip near the hat's brim opened wide like a mouth and the Sorting Hat burst into song:

 _In times of old when I was new_

 _And Hogwarts barely started_

 _The founders of our noble school_

 _Thought never to be parted:_

 _United by a common goal,_

 _They had the selfsame yearning,_

 _To make the world's best magic school_

 _And pass along their learning._

 _"Together we will build and teach!"_

 _The four good friends decided_

 _And never did they dream that they_

 _Might someday be divided,_

 _For were there such friends anywhere_

 _As Slytherin and Gryffndor?_

 _Unless it was the second pair_

 _Of Huffepuff and Ravenclaw?_

 _So how could it have gone so wrong?_

 _How could such friendships fail?_

 _Why, I was there and so can tell_

 _The whole sad, sorry tale._

 _Said Slytherin, "We'll teach just those_

 _Whose ancestry is purest."_

 _Said Ravenclaw, "We'll teach those whose_

 _Intelligence is surest."_

 _Said Gryffindor, "We'll teach all those_

 _With brave deeds to their name,"_

 _Said Hufflepujf, "I'll teach the lot,_

 _And treat them just the same."_

 _These differences caused little strife_

 _When first they came to light,_

 _For each of the four founders had_

 _A House in which they might_

 _Take only those they wanted, so,_

 _For instance, Slytherin_

 _Took only pure-blood wizards_

 _Of great cunning, just like him,_

 _And only those of sharpest mind_

 _Were taught by Ravenclaw_

 _While the bravest and the boldest_

 _Went to daring Gryffindor._

 _Good Hufflepujf she took the rest,_

 _And taught them all she knew,_

 _Thus the Houses and their founders_

 _Retained friendships firm and true._

 _So Hogwarts worked in harmony_

 _For several happy years,_

 _But then discord crept among us_

 _Feeding on our faults and fears._

 _The Houses that, like pillars four,_

 _Had once held up our school,_

 _Now turned upon each other and,_

 _Divided, sought to rule._

 _And for a while it seemed the school_

 _Must meet an early end,_

 _What with dueling and with fighting_

 _And the clash of friend on friend_

 _And at last there came a morning_

 _When old Slytherin departed_

 _And though the fighting then died out_

 _He left us quite downhearted._

 _And never since the founders four_

 _Were whittled down to three_

 _Have the Houses been united_

 _As they once were meant to be._

 _And now the Sorting Hat is here_

 _And you all know the score:_

 _I sort you into Houses_

 _Because that is what I'm for,_

 _But this year I'll go further,_

 _Listen closely to my song:_

 _Though condemned I am to split you_

 _Still I worry that it's wrong,_

 _Though I must fulfill my duty_

 _And must quarter every year_

 _Still I wonder whether sorting_

 _May not bring the end I fear._

 _Oh, know the perils, read the signs,_

 _The warning history shows,_

 _For our Hogwarts is in danger_

 _From external, deadly foes_

 _And we must unite inside her_

 _Or we'll crumble from within._

 _I have told you, I have warned you…_

 _Let the Sorting now begin._

The hat became motionless once more; applause broke out, though it was punctured with muttering and whispers. All across the Great Hall students were exchanging remarks with their neighbors but Alfred had no clue what they could be talking about. The message had seemed simple enough to him.

Professor McGonagall, who was waiting to read out the list of first years' names, was giving the whispering students the sort of look that scorches.

The muttering came to an abrupt end. With a last frowning look that swept the four House tables, Professor McGonagall lowered her eyes to her long piece of parchment and called out, "Abercrombie, Euan."

The terrified looking boy that Alfred had noticed earlier stumbled forward and put the hat on his head; it was only prevented from falling right down to his shoulders by his very prominent ears. The hat considered for a moment, then the rip near the brim opened again and shouted, "GRYFFINDOR!"

Alfred clapped with the rest of his House. It seemed the right thing to do, like when someone was picked to be on a sports team. Euan Abercrombie staggered to their table and sat down, looking as though he would like very much to sink through the floor and never be looked at again.

Slowly the long line of first years thinned; in the pauses between the names and the Sorting Hat's decisions, Alfred's stomach started to rumble louder and louder. Finally, "Zeller, Rose" was sorted into Hufflepuff, and Professor McGonagall picked up the hat and stool and marched them away as Professor Dumbledore rose to his feet.

"To our newcomers," said Dumbledore in a ringing voice, his arms stretched wide and a beaming smile on his lips, "welcome! To our old hands — welcome back! There is a time for speech making, but this is not it. Tuck in!"

There was an appreciative laugh and an outbreak of applause as Dumbledore sat down neatly and threw his long beard over his shoulder so as to keep it out of the way of his plate — for food had appeared out of nowhere, so that the five long tables were groaning under joints and pies and dishes of vegetables, bread, sauces, and flagons of pumpkin juice.

Alfred happily piled food onto his plate and dug in. There were so many more options here than there was yesterday. He wanted to try as much as he could so he challenged himself to see how much he could eat in one go.

When he was starting to feel full, the main food vanished. It was quickly replaced by mountains of dessert. Alfred's eyes lit up with renewed energy as he piled desserts onto his plate and started scarfing it down.

By the time the food disappeared again, Alfred was content. He was thoroughly stuffed and ready to take a 12-hour nap.

When all the students had finished eating and the noise level in the hall was starting to creep upward again, Dumbledore got to his feet once more. Talking ceased immediately as all turned to face the headmaster.

"Well, now that we are all digesting another magnificent feast, I beg a few moments of your attention for the usual start-of-term notices," said Dumbledore. "First years ought to know that the forest in the grounds is out of bounds to students — and a few of our older students ought to know by now too."

"Mr. Filch, the caretaker, has asked me, for what he tells me is the four hundred and sixty-second time, to remind you all that magic is not permitted in corridors between classes, nor are a number of other things, all of which can be checked on the extensive list now fastened to Mr. Filch's office door.

"We have had two changes in staffing this year. We are very pleased to welcome back Professor Grubbly-Plank, who will be taking Care of Magical Creatures lessons; we are also delighted to introduce Professor Umbridge, our new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher." There was a round of polite but fairly unenthusiastic applause.

Dumbledore continued, "Tryouts for the House Quidditch teams will take place on the —"

He broke off, looking inquiringly at Professor Umbridge. As she was not much taller standing than sitting, there was a moment when nobody understood why Dumbledore had stopped talking, but then Professor Umbridge said, "Hem, hem," and it became clear that she had got to her feet and was intending to make a speech.

Dumbledore only looked taken aback for a moment, then he sat back down smartly and looked alertly at Professor Umbridge as though he desired nothing better than to listen to her talk. Other members of staff were not as adept at hiding their surprise. Professor Sprout's eyebrows had disappeared into her flyaway hair, and Professor McGonagall's mouth was thin. No new teacher had ever interrupted Dumbledore before. Many of the students were smirking; this woman obviously did not know how things were done at Hogwarts.

"Thank you, Headmaster," Professor Umbridge simpered, "for those kind words of welcome." Her voice was high-pitched, breathy, and little-girlish and again. She gave another little throat clearing cough ("Hem, hem") and continued: "Well, it is lovely to be back at Hogwarts, I must say!" She smiled, revealing very pointed teeth. "And to see such happy little faces looking back at me!"

This woman's voice instantly rubbed Alfred the wrong way. She was speaking to these kids like they were five. This woman felt all kinds of wrong, and Alfred knew she was another one that couldn't be trusted. She reminded him of some of his politicians, she spoke sweet and tried to make others think she was likeable, but it was all a façade to hide their true intentions.

"I am very much looking forward to getting to know you all, and I'm sure we'll be very good friends!" Students exchanged looks at this; some of them were barely concealing grins. Professor Umbridge cleared her throat again ("Hem, hem"), but when she continued, some of the breathiness had vanished from her voice. She sounded much more businesslike and now her words had a dull learned-by-heart sound to them.

"The Ministry of Magic has always considered the education of young witches and wizards to be of vital importance. The rare gifts with which you were born may come to nothing if not nurtured and honed by careful instruction. The ancient skills unique to the Wizarding community must be passed down through the generations lest we lose them forever. The treasure trove of magical knowledge amassed by our ancestors must be guarded, replenished, and polished by those who have been called to the noble profession of teaching."

Professor Umbridge paused here and made a little bow to her fellow staff members, none of whom bowed back. Professor McGonagall's dark eyebrows had contracted so that she looked positively hawklike, and Alfred swore he saw her exchange a significant glance with Professor Sprout as Umbridge gave another little "Hem, hem" and went on with her speech.

"Every headmaster and headmistress of Hogwarts has brought something new to the weighty task of governing this historic school, and that is as it should be, for without progress there will be stagnation and decay. There again, progress for progress's sake must be discouraged, for our tried and tested traditions often require no tinkering. A balance, then, between old and new, between permanence and change, between tradition and innovation…"

Only centuries of listening to droning politicians ramble on about politics allowed Al to pay attention to the rest of her speech. It had taught him to listen for the smaller details and read between the lines. This allowed him to realize that what she was saying was something he seriously needed to talk to Arthur and Alistair about, or at least send them a letter about.

". . . because some changes will be for the better, while others will come, in the fullness of time, to be recognized as errors of judgment. Meanwhile, some old habits will be retained, and rightly so, whereas others, outmoded and outworn, must be abandoned. Let us move forward, then, into a new era of openness, effectiveness, and accountability, intent on preserving what ought to be preserved, perfecting what needs to be perfected, and pruning wherever we find practices that ought to be prohibited."

She sat down. Dumbledore clapped. The staff followed his lead, though Alfred noticed that several of them brought their hands together only once or twice before stopping. A few students joined in, but most had been taken unawares by the end of the speech, not having listened to more than a few words of it, and before they could start applauding properly, Dumbledore had stood up again.

"Thank you very much, Professor Umbridge, that was most illuminating," he said, bowing to her. "Now — as I was saying, Quidditch tryouts will be held…" Alfred zoned out at this and thought about the woman's speech.

It seemed the Ministry was going to be interfering with the school and censoring a lot of things. How did Arthur even agree to something like this? Or was his Ministry doing this behind his back? Britain wasn't really that big about censoring, so it was something he thought he should bring to the older nation's attention.

There was a great clattering and banging all around them; Dumbledore had obviously just dismissed the school, because everyone was standing up ready to leave the Hall. Alfred stood up and made his way towards the doors. Years of living in New York had taught him how to expertly weave through large crowds, he had to learn it if he wanted to get anywhere on time.

When he got there he waited for Mattie to pop up, it wouldn't be hard for him to spot him. He'd recognize him in a crowded room in seconds. After a few minutes of children streaming past him, he spotted his twin trying to get past children, apologizing the entire time. He darted forward and grabbed his brother's wrist.

He pulled him back to a more secluded area where they could talk without being heard. "Hey, have you heard the rumors about this Harry Potter kid?"

"Yeah, but none of its true." When he saw his brother's confused look he quickly explained. "Papa was here last year for the Triwizard tournament. According to him, Harry was absolutely distraught when he came back with Cedric's body. He was completely genuine when he said Voldemort returned, and Papa trusts him."

"Yeah, and I know I've heard Arthur talking about him too. We both know Arthur wouldn't speak highly of someone he saw as an annoying brat."

"True, so are we going to trust this kid?" Matthew asked, wanting to get this established before they went back to their dorms.

"I think we should. We could ask Arthur about it tomorrow if you really want to know more about him, he is one of Arthur's people after all, and he is apparently important to wizard history." Alfred responded.

"Alright, well we should be heading to our dorms now, night Alfie."

"Night Mattie, don't let the chupacabra bite." Alfred said, giving his brother a doofy grin followed by a bone crushing hug before heading back to his dorm room.

At the entrance to the Gryffindor tower Alfred gave the password McGonagall had told him. He really hoped it hadn't changed, or else he's be stuck outside the dorm room for the first night. He was thankful when the door swung open, allowing him entrance.

He walked through the common room, and headed right up to his dorm room. He was tired and ready to pass out into a food coma. He walked in, ignoring his dorm mates and plopped down onto his bed. He grabbed his pajamas out of his trunk, glad Arthur had remembered to pack them, and pulled the curtain around his bed. He changed into them, dumped his clothes into his trunk and snuggled under the covers. Within a few minutes he was out like a light.

Matthew meanwhile was able to return to his dorm room without too much of a problem. He made sure to remind Kumacookie not to hurt any owls, cats, or toads, since they could be somebody's pet. He let the bear cub wander freely once he made sure he understood. When he changed into his pajamas and laid down he was happy when the cub decided to snuggle up next to him for the night. It wasn't long before the bear cubs rhythmic breathing lulled him to sleep.

~.~.~.~.

Welcome to the bottom guys, how did you guys like it? I don't really have anything to say down here, but I do have a question for you guys. Should Alfred and/or Mattie try out for the House Quidditch team? And if so, which position do you think they should try out for? I don't think either are quite the right size for a Seeker, as they are both 5'9, but I feel they could fit in any other spot.

Anyways, that's all for now, love it, hate it, just review it. Buh-bye!


	5. Chapter 5

Hey guys, welcome to the next chapter. I must say, I both enjoy having a set schedule, and constantly want to break it. I want to get these chapters out sooner for you guys, but I know that would lead to me falling behind in chapters and forcing you guys to wait even longer for the next one.

I want to thank Izzy'sFANDOMS and RowenaMatthewJones for their reviews last chapter. You two were the only ones to actually review last chapter and I really appreciate that. I also want to thank all of you who favorited and followed recently, thank you for giving me and this story a chance, I hope I don't let you down.

There are two things I wanted to get to before the story starts. One, I know that Alfred is afraid of horror movies, however I can't remember if it's canon that he's afraid of ghosts or if that's more of a fanon thing. I will definitely be using that for this chapter, and for the story, as it can lead to some interesting scenarios.

The second thing is that, like last chapter, I am introducing one of my headcanons. I try to explain it the best I can in the chapter, but if you have any questions about it, feel free to ask in the reviews. That's it for up here, enjoy!

* * *

In the morning Matthew was rudely awakened by a wet nose poking his face. He yelped in surprise and pushed the perpetrator away. He sat up, rubbing his cheek to rub the wetness away before glaring at his bear cub.

"Kumakoopa, I was trying to sleep." He growled at his partner. The cub just snuffled and curled into a ball on his lap. "Hey, if I don't get to sleep, neither do you." He said as he pushed the cub off his lap and onto the floor.

Kuma whined and pawed at the bed, trying to get the nation to pick him back up. However, the Canadian refused to look at the bear, feigning upset. "Hungry." The bear whined, changing tactics to get the other to pay attention.

"Then go down to kitchen and ask the house elves for breakfast." Matthew huffed, laying back down and covering himself with the blanket. He tried to go back to sleep but the bear's whining prevented him from doing so.

Finally, he groaned and sat up, swinging his legs over the side of the bed. He stretched and yawned before looking around his dorm. It looked like all of his dorm mates were still fast asleep, of course they were.

Matthew stood up and walked towards the door. He opened it and motioned for the bear cub to crawl through, following him. They walked through the common room and out of the Hufflepuff basement towards the kitchen.

The house elves were scurrying around, making breakfast. A few pulled away to tend to Matthew and Kuma. "Good morning sir, is there anything we can get for you?"

"Can I get some pancakes for my bear? I'll eat with everyone else, but I don't want to get in trouble for bringing him to the Great Hall at breakfast."

"Of course sir, that won't be a problem." One scurried forward with a stack of pancakes on a plate, and put it on the floor. Matthew put the wiggling polar bear down and waited for the cub to start eating. However, the bear just stared at the plate and back at his partner with a whine.

"What is it now Kumakiwi?" Matthew asked in annoyance. The bear never had a problem eating pancakes whenever he made them.

"Syrup." The bear murmered. That's right, he always gave the bear syrup on his pancakes. Now he had to go back and get his syrup from his room. With a groan he turned around and headed back towards the door.

"Stay here Kuma, I'll be right back." He instructed the cub before heading back to his dorm. When he got to his dorm his dorm mates were starting to wake up. He quickly grabbed a jug from his trunk before speed walking back to the kitchen.

When he got back, he was glad to see Kuma still sitting where he left him, the plate of pancakes untouched. He opened the jug and poured it freely onto the plate. Kuma happily dug into the pancakes, now that they were drowned in syrup.

"Do you guys have anywhere to keep my syrup cold? It needs to be refrigerated now that it's been open." Matthew asked. He conjured up a flask and poured some of the syrup into it before closing the jug.

"Of course sir, can we use it for breakfast?" The house elves asked.

"No." Matthew growled, nobody touched his syrup but him and maybe Alfred if he had permission. "It's just for me, my brother and my bear."

"Understood sir, nobody else will touch without your permission." The elf bowed before taking the jug of syrup and rushing off with it.

By then the polar bear cub had finished and was licking the syrup off the plate. Matthew grabbed him and headed back to his dorm. He needed to get ready for classes and get down in time for breakfast.

Getting dressed and ready didn't take long, Matthew let Kuma wander freely behind him. The bear was able to keep up with no problem and managed to stay out from underfoot. The pair headed down to the Great Hall.

When they got there, Matthew could instantly tell his brother wasn't there. He wasn't that surprised though, the American loved to sleep in as late as possible. Matthew took a seat at his House table, Alfred could sit next to him when he finally came downstairs.

Looking around the table, Matthew was surprised to find that there was absolutely no coffee. How did they expect him to be wide awake and ready for class without any coffee? He wasn't even himself until he had his morning cup. There was definitely going to be a problem if he had to go a full year without coffee.

Deciding to settle for a cup of tea, since it had at least some caffeine in it, Matthew eyed the pancakes. If there was one thing that had to be done right for him, it was pancakes. Al made pretty good pancakes, but he was cautious about trying the house elves'. He scooped a few onto his plates and tried a bit without any maple syrup first. It wasn't too bad, couldn't hold a flame to his own, or even Al's, but still manageable.

As he poured syrup from his flask onto the pancakes he heard a fluttering of wings. He looked up to see hundreds of owls fly in from an upper window. He watched as they flew around the hall, splattering water from their soaked wings everywhere. When he spotted a white dove in the flock of owls he jumped in surprise. It looked confused and was trying to find something.

"Pierre, Pierre ici!" Matthew shouted and waved his arm, hoping the small bird would hear him. Apparently it had, as it turned and dove towards him. It landed in front of him with a cheerful chirp, compared to the other birds in the room, the little dove was relatively dry and the letter attached to his leg was untouched by the weather. Matthew rubbed the bird's head with a finger while he unattached the letter from its leg. "What does Papa have to say today Pierre?" The small bird merely chirped and watched him.

Matthew unfolded the letter and was surprised when it stretched out to a full page. His Papa must have enchanted it to be small enough for Pierre to carry.

 _Mon cher Matthieu_

 _I overheard Arthur talking about you and Alfred being trapped at Hogwarts. I could not believe it at first, but after asking Alistair, I have come to realize it is true. Be careful mon enfant, the school can be quite tricky for those who don't understand it. I got lost multiple times last year while I was there with my magic school._

 _I cannot imagine being trapped there for an entire year. Have you tried Hopping out of Hogwarts yet? If that doesn't work, I don't really know what else I can do to help. Neither Ludwig or I had problems getting in or out during the Triwizard tournament._

 _I could however help make your time there a little easier. Please tell your brother to avoid History of Magic. I remember Arthur complaining about his complete fear of ghosts as a child, and the class is taught by an actual ghost. So if he is still terrified of ghosts, do not go near that class, I wouldn't recommend you attend either. The professor is not good at his job and you're both better off reading the textbook. You'll learn more from that then most of his classes combined. Both of you were living with Arthur for part of it, so I doubt it would be too much of a problem._

 _I would also not recommend Divination. The class is ridiculous, a complete waste of time, and you don't even have to be a real Seer to pass that class. Most the students last year were making up ridiculous things for their homework and getting good grades._

 _As I remember how much you and Alfred loved animals, I would definitely recommend Care of Magical Creatures. The professor is a bit enthusiastic about large creatures, but it's nothing either of you couldn't handle. Last year he had his fourth years caring for Blast Ended Skrewts, so I'm sure you'll be excited for what he has to show fifth years._

 _If you or your brother need anything just owl me. I will be there as quickly as I can, granted the school doesn't block me out like it did angleterre and his brother._

 _Jusqu' à la prochaine fois mon enfant_

 _Francis_

Matthew smiled happily at the letter. It always made him happy when he got a letter from his Papa. He grabbed a paper from his bag and conjured up a pen. There was no way he was going to be writing with a quill, like the ones Arthur had sent. Pens were so much easier.

 _Cher papa_

 _Don't worry Papa, everything is fine here. Alfred is pretty upset about being forced to stay here, but other than that, we're okay. Apparently he's able to talk to the school somehow, and we explored a lot of it yesterday, so hopefully I won't have to worry about getting lost. We already tried Hopping out, but nothing seems to work._

 _I found out yesterday that the whole school seems to be full of ghosts. Honestly I'm surprised Alfred hasn't seen one and completely freaked out. I'll definitely warn him about the History of Magic class though, as I don't want to have to answer for his freak out._

 _We have already chosen our electives; it seems the three of us agree about Divination. We also decided to pass on Muggle Studies. After all, what could these wizards teach us in a year that we didn't already learn our entire lives? We knew that Care of Magical Creatures was perfect though, and we chose Ancient Runes for the second elective._

 _Don't forget to write me too Papa, I know you forget. I'm telling Pierre to remind you every month if you don't send a letter, and not just a gentle reminder. Full out pecking and constant noise._

 _Je t'embrasse_

 _Matthieu_

 _PS: Can you please send some coffee grounds? They don't have any coffee here, and neither Alfred or I can function without it._

Matthew folded the letter into threes, then enchanted it to make it small enough for Pierre to hold and to repel water. He didn't want the bird to arrive with a soggy letter his Papa couldn't read. "Pierre, if Papa doesn't write me a letter in a month, make sure to 'remind him' about us. Got it?" He made air quotes around the words 'remind him.' The bird looked at him in concentration and gave an affirmative chirp. "Alright good boy, want some pancakes before you go?" The bird nodded, and as Matthew tied the letter to its leg, the bird pecked at the plate of pancakes.

After eating his fill, Pierre chirped happily at the Canadian and took off. Matthew watched him until he had flown out of the hall, then turned back and dug into his pancakes.

In a few minutes, Matthew was joined by his twin brother. His hair was messy and robes disheveled, he looked like he was barely awake. Alfred grunted in greeting and sat down next to his brother. Matthew slid his brother a plate of pancakes already drowned in syrup. With a grunt in thanks, Alfred dug into the pancakes.

After most the plate was devoured, Alfred looked much more awake. By the time it was finished his brother was much more lively. "Morning Matt, is there any coffee?" Alfred asked as he piled more food onto his plate.

"Sadly no, but don't worry, I've already asked Papa to send us some grounds so we can make our own." Matthew reassured his brother. Neither could go long without their caffeine.

"Wait, when did you talk to Papa?" Alfred asked, it didn't look like Liberty had return yet.

"Pierre showed up a few minutes before you did. Papa heard about us being here and left some advice for us. He recommended we don't take Divination and take Care of Magical Creatures. He also recommended you stay away History of Magic. It's taught by a ghost, and apparently his teaching is worthless."

"They let a ghost teach here? There's no way that's true, Papa must be trying to trick us." Alfred blew his brother's advice off and kept eating.

"If you say so, but I'm going to take his advice and stay out of that class. I'll just read the textbook and if there's something that doesn't make sense, I'll just owl Dad."

"True." Alfred responded. Professor Sprout approached the table and walked right up to the twins.

"Good morning boys, I was told the two of you would be sitting together, so I have both of your timetables, here you go." They grabbed their schedules, then glanced over at the other's.

"Looks like we have Ancient Runes, both Herbology and Transfigurations classes, Care of Magical Creatures, and a free period on Wednesday together."

"Hey, looks like I have the so-called haunted class first." Alfred playfully nudged his brother, he knew magical history, Arthur insisted he learned before his independence. He still thought it would be a good idea to check the class out.

"I've got Double Charms with Ravenclaw first. I so don't want to be doing magic without my coffee this early in the morning." Matthew said, slumping forward.

"Well, after haunted class I've got Potions, I'm definitely looking forward to that. Even if evil teacher dude is teaching it, nothing can make me hate brewing a good old fashioned potion." Matthew nodded in agreement. Something about brewing had a calming effect on the twins, and nothing could sour their mood while they were doing it.

"What kind of Potion do you think they'll have us brew on the first day? Do you think it'll be something like Felix Felicis?" Matthew asked.

"No way dude, that's way too easy for a fifth year. They probably learned that in their third year. Since we have Ancient Runes between our Potions class then we can just swap the book during class."

"Makes sense, so you're taking the book for second period and give it to me during third, seems fair." Both twins nodded in agreement.

"Do you remember where the Charms class is Matt?" Alfred asked as they stood up and headed to their dorms to grab their books.

"Yup don't worry about me Al, I think I remember where the classes are." Matthew reassured his brother. "And if I forget, I'll just follow my classmates."

They split to head for their rooms. Alfred grabbed one of his expandable bags, and put the textbooks he needed for today's classes and his Potions' book inside. After a second, he grabbed the Ilvermorny equivalents, it would be fun to compare the classes.

Alfred headed out, and followed the school's guidance to a classroom. Walking in he found that most of the classroom was empty. He took an empty in the back and pulled out his History of Magic textbook. Curious, he started leafing through it. Maybe he could learn how Arthur's Ministry of Magic was established, or how the Statue of Secrecy was created. Hopefully they also leaned some non-maj history in here as well.

While his students learned about the MACUSA and his magical history, they also learned non-maj history. It was important that they, as US citizens learn about their country's history. His future was in their hands and he didn't want them to be ignorant about their ancestors' past mistakes and repeat them.

However, he was disappointed to find it didn't seem to say anything about the magical government or how the magical community was founded. It just went on and on about goblin rebellions, troll riots, and giant wars. With an annoyed huff, he closed the book, there was absolutely nothing worth learning in the stupid book. Hopefully the lectures were a little better, but if this was the book the teacher required, then he severely doubted it.

When a student took a seat next to him, Alfred snapped out of his thoughts and watched the students file in. That must mean the class was about to begin and they were just waiting for the teacher to come in. Alfred was ready to laugh at Francis' attempt to scare him, but part of him was curious if the Frenchman was telling the truth.

A chill ran up Alfred's spine as he sat there thinking about Francis' warning. Curious, Alfred looked up to see what had caused it. Alfred could feel his heart stop as he saw the silvery translucent figure standing at the head of the class.

Alfred's pupils dilated and his breathing and heartrate sped up as he went into a panic. His chest felt like it was constricting in on himself and his whole body was starting to shake. He bolted up, sending the chair he was in flying backwards. In his panic, Alfred didn't care if it ended up hitting anyone.

All students' eyes were now on the new kid. He was breathing heavily and wouldn't take his eyes off of Professor Binns. Alfred's eyes darted around trying to find a means of escape, unfortunately the only way out of class was the door at the front of the class, next to the teacher's desk.

Alfred could feel his body filling with adrenaline and rushed around the desks. He crashed into a few, but ignored the pain and the shouts he received from the other students around him. He turned his head and blindly rushed towards the door.

Unfortunately, instead of being at the door, he ended up in front of the teacher's desk, face to face with the cause of his fear. Had he been in his right mind, Alfred would have noticed that the teacher was worried, but in his panic Alfred merely saw a terrifying ghost in front of him.

"G-get away from me!" Alfred yelled in terror. He backed up, not daring to turn his back on the ghost, when he felt his back hit a wall, he used his hand to blindly grab behind him, feeling behind him for the door. When the ghost started to move towards him, his terror intensified tenfold. "S-stay away! D-don't come any closer!"

A small bit of relief flashed through Alfred when he felt the doorframe. It vanished when the ghost continued to approach him. He felt around for the doorknob, and when he finally grabbed it, he turned it and yanked it open.

With a means to escape, Alfred bolted for freedom. He ran as far as he could from the classroom, he needed to get away from the ghost, as far away as possible. After racing through the halls of the school he came across a strange looking door. He opened it and shuffled in, he slumped into a corner, pulling his knees up to his chest and let lose a sob.

~/~/~/Matthew~/~/~/

Matthew was sitting in class, listening to Professor Flitwick talk about something having to do with owls when he felt the bond he and his brother shared awaken. Surprised, he reached out to it and was overwhelmed by his brother's terror.

He knew something was wrong. Something had caused his brother to subconsciously trigger the bond they shared. It had existed since they were born, but unlike the bond they shared with their children, it couldn't be activated whenever they wanted. The bond was only awakened during times of extreme distress or fear. It allowed them to sense the other's emotions and be able to locate where the other was.

Matthew jumped up from his seat and rushed towards the door. He needed to find Alfred immediately, he was the only one who could calm the other down when he was in this state of mind.

"Mr. Kirkland, where are you going?" Professor Flitwick asked in surprise. He had been in the middle of his O.W.L.s speech when the blond stood up without even a word and walked towards the door. When he didn't receive a response he called out "Mr. Kirkland, you can't leave the class without a reason and permission from the teacher."

Matthew growled as he pulled the door open. To hell with the rules, right now his little brother needed him and he was not about to let some silly little rule get in his way. He ignored the teacher's protest as he walked out of the room.

Using the bond to track his brother down, Matthew walked through the halls. When he noticed someone walking close by, he triggered his invisibility. He couldn't afford to be stopped for any reason right now, he needed to get to Alfred as quickly as possible. He passed the person without interruption and when the other person was out of sight he let his invisibility slip away.

Eventually the bond led him to a strange looking door. Matthew paused for a second to wonder if they had seen this door while they were exploring the school. What about this room had caused Al to choose it in his panic? He opened the door and glanced around before homing in on his brother. He instantly recognized the room as one from their childhood. It was an exact replica of Arthur's room from back when they were still colonies.

Across from the door he entered sat a fireplace with a stone mantle. To his left sat a king sized four poster bed covered with a red and gold comforter. The wall on his right was made entirely of a ceiling-to-floor bookshelf jam packed with books. The floor was made of a dark oak but the center was covered by a crimson and gold carpet. In front of the fireplace sat two plush, comfortable looking armchairs.

Matthew noticed his brother curled up in the corner between the king bed and the fireplace. Before going over to him, Matthew conjured logs into the fireplace and lit it. Without another thought, Matthew went over to where his brother was curled up trembling.

He kneeled down in front of his brother and softly murmured " _Brother."_ When his breathing hitched Matthew took that as a good sign. " _Brother, I'm here now. You can get through this, I promise."_ Alfred let out a small whine and looked up at his brother. " _There you go, I'm so proud of you. Brother, can I hold you?"_ Matthew knew physical contact was helpful in this situation, but only if his brother let him do it.

After a few seconds, Alfred nodded in response. Matthew crawled forward and embraced his brother, pulling him onto his lap and against his chest. He could feel his brother's irregular breathing and his rapid heartbeat as well as his trembling.

Matthew murmured words of encouragement and praise to his twin in Iroquois as they sat there. After he felt Alfred's erratic heartbeat settle down slightly, he asked, " _Brother, would you like to move in front of the fireplace? it's warmer and more comfortable."_ Alfred seemed to think for a second before nodding.

Matthew carefully picked his brother up and walked to the armchairs. He carefully maneuvered his brother before sitting down. For anyone else it would be quite awkward, since the twins were the exact same size, but Matthew was quite used to it by now, Alfred used to have panic attacks quite frequently when they were younger, and if Arthur wasn't around, it was up to Matthew to calm his brother down. He had learned at quite a young age how to handle someone having a panic attack and it was quite a handy skill to have.

After several more minutes of Matthew encouraging his brother to calm his breathing, Alfred seemed to have calmed down enough. " _Feeling better brother?"_ Matthew asked, looking at his twin with concern.

" _Yeah, definitely, thanks Mattie."_ Alfred gave him a tired smile. Although they didn't happen frequently, the attacks always left him exhausted for an hour or two, despite only lasting for 20 minutes at most.

" _What happened?"_ Matthew asked, he had a sneaking suspicion about the cause if the panic attack, but he wanted to hear it from Al himself.

" _Turns out Papa was right, the teacher of History of Magic is a ghost. I completely freaked out and got out of there as quickly as I could."_ Alfred confirmed Matthew's suspicions. _"I don't think I should go back to that class."_

" _Yeah, that would be a good idea."_ Matthew responded.

" _Hey, weren't you also in the middle of a class?"_ Alfred asked, at breakfast his brother had mentioned something about Charms class.

" _Yeah, I was in Double Charms with Ravenclaw. I felt our bond activate and I got out of there and to you as quickly as I could."_ Matthew answered.

" _Did you even tell the teacher why you had left?"_ Matthew shook his head. " _So you just left without telling the teacher anything? Dude, that's so not like you."_

" _I wanted to get to you as quickly as possible. When you have one of these attacks it's usually worse if nobody you know is there to help. There was no time for me to explain what was happening and get to you before things got worse."_

" _Maybe you should get back before you get in even more trouble."_ Alfred said. He could explain his absence, but Mattie could get in trouble for doing something like that.

" _No way, I am not leaving you alone after a panic attack. I can explain what happened later. It's a Double class for me, but when your class is over, I'll walk you to your Potions class and then go back to my class. Until then, let's just sit here and rest, we both know you need it."_ Alfred nodded in agreement, nuzzling into his brother's chest. Together, they waited for the bell that signified the ending of a period.

* * *

Welcome to the bottom guys, what did you think?

I have written a panic attack before for another story that was later scrapped, however for this one I had to go back and look through the symptoms again, as it has been a few years. I really hope I've done it justice. While I have never had a panic attack myself, I did have an anxiety attack a few months ago, and tried to incorporate the feeling of helplessness and terror that comes with it. I also tried to incorporate things that multiple websites say help for panic attacks. I used the word _brother_ as a sort of anchor for Alfred. It's word that his mind would be able to recognize, even amidst his panic. It's a word that means safety, love, comfort, and protection, things that would certainly help him. Therefore, I have Matthew repeat it a few times, as he knows it helps his brother out.

As you may have noticed, I also had Matthew say that Alfred was the younger brother. This plays off both what was said in the web comic, and historically. Canada was first settled by Vikings, long before America was discovered by the Spanish. This in my mind makes Matthew older than Alfred, even if he gained his independence almost a century after his brother.

If Matthew seems a bit out of character in the scene with the house elves, I want to remind you he was woken up very rudely and hasn't had any coffee yet. He's a little grumpy and is going to act out.

Last chapter I had asked a question, which allowed you guys to participate and influence what could happen in the story. I asked if Matthew and Alfred should try out for their Quidditch teams. Since I only got 2 reviews, there wasn't much to go off, and I had to ask my friends for a little bit of help. The general consensus was that Alfred should definitely join his team. However, together we also decided on what position he should try out for, but I will be keeping that a secret for either you guys to figure out, or learn about later.

This left me with one last problem though. No one could agree on whether Matthew should join the team, the reviews were split, as were my friends. I will be leaving this decision to you my dear readers. Should Mattie join his House Quidditch team, or should he be on the sidelines? And if you think he should join, what position should he be in?

That's all for now, love it, hate it, just review it. Buh-bye!


	6. Chapter 6

Hey guys, I'm back right on time with the next chapter. I have some unfortunate news regarding next week's update. I may be spending Thanksgiving with my mother in another state and maybe even another country, and since I most likely won't be able to take my laptop, there's a chance I won't be able to update on time. I'll try to take my laptop and get it in on time, but I just want to let you guys know ahead of time. I can try to update the day before I leave, or the day I get back, let me know which you guys would prefer.

Starting this chapter, I officially want to name my friend as my co-author. She insists she's just someone to bounce ideas off, but she has helped me so much on this story and has given birth to many of the ideas I have used for this story. This story would not be as good as it is now if it wasn't for her, and I feel she deserves to be called my co-author. Her Fanfiction account is Lilly Wulf, there is a period between the names if anyone wishes to look her up, but Fanfiction is very finicky about periods. I know her simply as Wulfie.

As I had two reviewers ask this last chapter, I want to say this again. This story will not have any slash, shipping, yaoi, smut, or whatever you want to call it. This is a story where we will enjoy the twin love, and nothing else.

I apologize for any mistakes, this chapter was not looked over by my lovely co-author or other friends who help me with this story. I am currently looking for a Beta if anyone is interested.

I want to thank everyone has reviewed, for those curious about how the votes turned out, I will give the results at the bottom author's note. I also wanted to thank everyone who favorited and followed, thank you for giving me and this story a chance. Now, enjoy!

* * *

Alfred had started to doze off as they waited. Matthew was glad for that, he knew how draining one of these attacks could be on his brother. He could use the rest so he could get through the rest of the day without running out of energy.

When the bell signifying the end of a class rung, he lightly shook his brother. Alfred groaned as he sat up, looking around with bleary eyes. "What happened?" He murmured.

"Time to go back to class, do you think can do it?" Alfred nodded as he stood up. He stretched before walking over to the door. However, he froze in place. Alfred let out a groan as something dawned on him. "Something wrong Al?" Matthew asked, worried.

"I left my books in that ghost's class." Alfred whined. Replacing the textbooks would be easy enough, but his Potions book was irreplaceable. The book held four centuries worth of Potions knowledge, including some from the great Native America herself. Hell, there were even Potions passed down from Germania, Britannia, Ancient Rome and Scandinavia. It had taken some serious brown nosing to get the recipes from the countries, and centuries to perfect them.

"Oh no, I have that class after Charms, I can duck in and grab it for you." Matthew offered, not wanting Al to go back there.

"That's probably the only thing we can do, there's no way I'm going back there." Alfred responded. "I just hope I won't need Mom's book for Potions. Might as well head down to the Potions class now."

Matthew escorted Alfred down to the dungeons where the Potions class took place. Matthew glared at anyone who looked at them funny, he was in full blown mama bear mode and he was not going to let anyone hurt his brother. When they got to the class, both were surprised when a girl with bushy hair approached them. When Matthew glared at her she slightly faltered, but shook it off enough to talk to them.

"I'm not sure if you remember, but I was in History of Magic class. When you left the class in a panic, I noticed you left behind your bag. I thought you might need them for the other classes, and I figured you were mostly likely coming to Potions. So, I grabbed your bag and brought it with me, here you go."

Alfred happily grabbed the bag from the her and searched through it. He was happy to see his textbooks were in there and his Potions book was there. The girl headed into the class leaving the twins by themselves.

" _Everything in there Al?"_ Matthew asked, looking at his twin.

" _Yup, everything's here's and accounted for. You can head back to class now Mattie, before you get into too much trouble."_

" _Alright, but remember, the bond stays open until we both fall asleep. If you need me, just use it to let me know, I don't care what's happening, I'll come as fast as I can."_ Alfred nodded in response.

"See you in Ancient Runes Mattie." Alfred said, he watched his brother walk out of view before turning back to the Potions class and entering.

Looking around in curiosity, Alfred found most stools were occupied. The entire room was cold and uninviting. The walls were made entirely stone and the room was somewhat oval shaped. It looked large enough to fit over 30 students. The walls were lined with jars filled with pickled animals.

In one corner of the room stood a basin with a gargoyle shaped faucet over it. In another corner was some sort of cupboard, and at the front of the classroom was a blackboard.

Alfred finally found an empty seat near the front of the class. He took the seat and set up his potions making equipment. Pulling out his three different Potions books and looked through the British textbook. Alfred almost laughed at the difficulty of the Potions listed, this was learned durning the fifth year? This was so ridiculously easy he could do it with his eyes closed. Granted he never would, since it was best to give potion brewing full attention.

Alfred was pulled out of his thoughts when he heard the door to the class open again. "Settle down," said Snape coldly, shutting the door behind him. There was no real need for the call to order; the moment the class had heard the door close, quiet had fallen and all fidgeting stopped. Snape's mere presence was usually enough to ensure a class's silence.

"Before we begin today's lesson," said Snape, sweeping over to his desk and staring around at them all, "I think it appropriate to remind you that next June you will be sitting an important examination, during which you will prove how much you have learned about the composition and use of magical potions. Moronic though some of this class undoubtedly are, I expect you to scrape an 'Acceptable' in your O.W.L., or suffer my . . . displeasure."

His gaze lingered on a chubby student nearby, who gulped. His eyes next rested on a kid in the back with black hair and glasses, his lip curled up. Alfred growled low in his throat, ready to defend the child if the need arose.

"But we have another year to go before that happy moment of farewell," said Snape softly, "so whether you are intending to attempt N.E.W.T. or not, I advise all of you to concentrate your efforts upon maintaining the high-pass level I have come to expect from my O.W.L. students.

"Today we will be mixing a potion that often comes up at Ordinary Wizarding Level: the Draught of Peace, a potion to calm anxiety and soothe agitation. Be warned: If you are too heavy-handed with the ingredients you will put the drinker into a heavy and sometimes irreversible sleep, so you will need to pay close attention to what you are doing." Alfred gave a silent chuckle, that honestly wasn't that difficult a potion to make, as long as you knew what you were doing.

"The ingredients and method" — Snape flicked his wand — "are on the blackboard" — (they appeared there) — "you will find everything you need" — he flicked his wand again — "in the store cupboard" — (the door of the said cupboard sprang open) — "you have an hour and a half… Start."

Alfred looked up at the board and was startled. None of those ingredients were right, and the instructions were unnecessarily complex. The way it was written, there was a way to screw up 5 different times with each step. Frowning, he shoved his two textbooks back into his bag and turned back to his personal textbook. He turned back to the index and looked for the Draught of Peace, after finding the page, he memorized the ingredients required and went to the cabinet.

He ignored the ingredients the other students were grabbing and went for the ones listed in his book. The only thing the teacher had gotten right was powdered unicorn horn. Unicorns were peaceful creatures, so their horn lent the ability to calming others. The other ingredients included phoenix down and griffon claw shavings.

Al hoped all were taken without harming the creatures they were taken from, griffons usually left shells of their claws behind when they marked their territories by clawing at trees. And much like deer, unicorns shed their horns annually, which made harvesting them simple.

Alfred headed back to his cauldron with the necessary ingredients. However, before he could even begin his potion he was stopped by mister evil dude himself.

"Mr. Kirkland, do you know how to read?" Snape asked as he looked down on the young blond.

"Obviously dude, or I wouldn't even be in a school." Alfred responded sassily.

"That's professor to you Mr. Kirkland." Snape growled, pissed at the other's disrespect.

"Whatever professor dude, can you let me get to making the potion." Alfred growled back, getting irritated.

"Unfortuntely dude," Snape sneered, mimicking the American's ridiculous accent. "You only have one of the ingredients you need to make the potion, and a bunch of other unnecessary and rare ingredients. You're going to ruin it before getting past the first step."

Alfred bristled at the man making fun of his accent, he usually didn't mind others mimicking his accent, even to tease, but the way this man used it was infuriating him. He decided to switch tactics, focusing on his southern states he let the feeling of them wash over him.

"Why, whatever do you mean professor?" Alfred chose to go with a Kansas accent, he wanted to go with a sweet innocent sounding voice. He batted his eyelashes innocently at the professor. "I'm just following these here instruction my book is givin me. My ma had this secret recipe she taught me, and it'll just knock yer socks off." Alfred could tell his accent was pissing the professor off, in the back of his mind he could sense Matthew grinning like a madman at his act.

"Regardless Mr. Kirkland, you need to follow the instructions on the board, as they are the ones England has used for centuries."

Abandoning his southern accent for his regular one, before responding. "Well those instructions are wrong, and so are you."

The entire class froze, staring at the transfer student. Nobody had ever stood up to Snape and told him he was wrong. They all waited with baited breath for Snape's response.

Snape sneered at the young male. "So you, an unimpressive, unaccomplished, insignificant 15-year-old American, think you know more than myself, an accomplished Potions Master and the whole of Britain?"

Alfred smirked, this man had no idea who he was talking to. He was the United States of America, his people discovered electricity, were the first to fly, invented the airplane, the atomic bomb, and the internet. His armies toppled empires and won wars. He was hardly insignificant, the impact he and his people had on the world was irreplaceable.

"Not exactly, I'm merely saying that I know a more efficient way to make this potion. The instructions you gave are complex and overcomplicated. How about we make a deal?" Alfred asked, hoping he could tempt the professor.

"I'm listening." Snape said, just because he said he would listen didn't mean he would agree with the teenager.

"How about this, you let me make the potion how I was originally going to make it. When I finish, I'll take the potion myself. If I'm successful it'll merely make me feel at peace, and if I'm not, it'll knock me out. If I fail, neither my brother or I will question your methods and we'll do it exactly as you said."

"And if you're successful?" Snape asked, this would be a good way to put the teen in his place.

"Then you won't question how my brother and I make our potions from now on, even if it seems like it could be dangerous." Alfred offered, his people had invented the casinos, so he was fairly confident in his gambling skills.

"An interesting offer indeed Mr. Kirkland, and you're offering yourself to test your potion?" Alfred nodded in response. "Alright, but don't expect any help from those around you."

"That isn't going to be a problem professor dude." Alfred responded before turning to begin his potion brewing. He let his worries float away as he began his potion.

~.~.~.~.

Matthew was taken to the side when he returned to class by Professor Flitwick. His mama bear mode was starting to fade and he felt bad.

"Matthew, can you tell me why you got up in the middle of class and left?" The professor asked, concern written on his face.

"Alfred had a panic attack in his History of Magic class. I needed to get to him before he ended up hurting himself or someone else in his panic." Matthew responded.

"How did you know your brother was having a panic attack? Nobody came to the class to tell us your brother was having one."

"We kind of share a psychic bond that lets us know if the other is in danger or scared. It triggered full force and full of fear."

"Why didn't you tell me Matthew; I would have let you go help your brother without a problem."

Matthew ducked his head in apology before saying, "Sorry professor, it's just that I'm used to rushing to my brother's side when something like this happens. Our dad was away a lot on business when we were younger, and I was the only who could help him."

"Well, next time try to at least let one of us know before you go rushing off. If it's something as big as your brother having a panic attack, we'll let you go. Try to understand that we can't just let the students leave class for no reason."

Matthew nodded in understanding. "While I normally agree sir, if my brother feels terrified enough to trigger our bond, I don't think I'd be able to stop myself from immediately going after him. I know my brother is exactly the same. I promise that for everything else though, I will tell you instead of just leaving."

Professor Flitwick sighed at that, he knew it was probably he would get from the violet eyed blond. He would have to take it. "I understand Matthew, now let's return to class, I hope your classes in America had already covered Summoning Charms, as we are reviewing them. If not, I can teach them to you while the rest of the class reviews."

Matthew smiled at the small man. He remembered learning Summoning Charms only a few months after getting his first wand. It was an easy charm that usually the first and second years learned it in Alfred's school. It was a bit odd that fifth years were going over them, it was literally a simple _Accio_ followed by whatever you were trying to summon.

"It won't be a problem professor, we learned them back in our second year at Ilvermony." Matthew reassured him. They headed back into the classroom where the rest of the class was busy causing things to whizz across the room.

Matthew took a seat and tried to find something to bring to him. After finding a book sitting peacefully on the shelf he pulled out his wand. _"Accio Charms book."_ Matthew smiled in accomplishment when the book flew to him, he knew he could do it, but it still felt good.

"Hey, you're one of the transfer aren't you?" The boy next to Matthew spoke up as he summoned a quill from another student's desk.

"Yeah, me and my twin brother transferred from North America." Matthew responded, summoning a sheet of paper from across the room.

"Oh, that's interesting, what's your name? I'm Ernie, Ernie Macmillan." The boy introduced himself.

"My name's Matthew Bonnefoy-Kirkland, nice to meet you Justin." Matthew smiled in greeting at the young male.

"Wait, Bonnefoy is a French last name, but Kirkland is one of the oldest families in all of the UK. But you said you and your brother transferred from North America." The boy looked confused.

"Well, see, my mother owned property in both the United States and Canada. When she passed away, her properties were split between her older brother, a Frenchman by the name Francis Bonnefoy, and my father, a Britishman named Arthur Kirkland. Francis took custody of me as well as the properties in Canada while Arthur got custody of my twin and the properties in America.

"However, later on our father decided he wanted everything. He and our uncle got into a fight over it, and eventually he got custody of me as well as all of the property. When we turned 11 he wanted to send us here to Hogwarts, but apparently our mother had insisted before she passed away that we attend school in North America. So our father decided to honor her memory and let us attend Ilvermorny."

"Oh, sorry for bringing it up, it must have been hard." Ernie apologized.

"No problem, it happened years ago. I still get to see my uncle all the time, and he and I are still really close, we still talk a lot. He might not be my father, but I still like to call him Papa, since he did raise me for the first few years of my life."

"That's good, so how did you end up here at Hogwarts if you don't mind me asking." Ernie asked out of curiosity.

"It's not a problem. Alfred, my twin, and I were in Scotland visiting our uncle Alistair, who's also a Kirkland. He lives here so he was showing us all of the sights, from Loch Ness, to the castle strip, even Isle of Skye. The last place he wanted to show us before we headed back for the school year was Hogwarts. We had only planned to look from the outside, but when we tried to go back, me and Alfred found we couldn't get past the ward. Since we couldn't get passed our uncle and father agreed that it was best we just attend this year."

"Well that's no good, wait, do you still have to take the O.W.L.s with the rest of us?" Matthew looked at the boy in confusion.

"What are the O.W.L.s? I heard Professor Flitwick talking about it earlier but I had no idea what he was talking about."

"O.W.L.s stands for Ordinary Wizarding Levels, it's a test all fifth years take. There's one for each class we take, and depending on the grade, it determines what classes we take next year. From there in our seventh year we take N.E.W.T.s, which stands for Nastily Exhausting Wizarding Test. This year is also when we start thinking about what we want to do when we graduate. Each career has certain requirements, like Aurors have to have at least 5 N.E.W.T.s with at least the second highest grade."

"Whoa, that sounds seriously complex and stressful. We never had anything like that back in America, like you guys, when we get to our fifth year, we meet with a career counselor. They help us determine what we want to do when we get out of school. Then they determine what classes we'll need for that career. We still have to take our core math and literary classes, but we get to choose the other classes we need. Then at the end of our final year we have a final exam that has a huge influence on the final grade of the class. Potential jobs look at our grades for the classes to determine whether or not to hire potential employees."

"That sounds a lot easier, maybe I should move to the United States, then I wouldn't have to worry about these stupid O.W.L.s and N.E.W.T.s." Matthew chuckled in response to the teen's whining.

In the back of his mind, Matthew could hear his brother sassing his Potions professor. Matthew liked to think he was an open minded person and pretty accepting of others fault. However, this man just rubbed every part of him the wrong way. He was glad Alfred was standing up to him, he just really hoped it wouldn't get him in trouble when he had Potions after Ancient Runes.

Matthew had to hold in a giggling fit when his twin slipped into a southern accent and pretended to be a 'poor innocent country girl.' He shook as he tried to hold his giggles in, which earned him a few odd looks from those surrounding him. Allowing himself a few seconds to gather his thoughts, Matthew returned to practicing his summoning.

Matthew listened as his brother made a deal with the rude professor. He was not worried in the slightest, Draught of Peace was relatively easy to make. This meant he wouldn't have to worry about the man when made the potion.

"So what is your wand made of? Does it have the common cores like here in the UK?" Matthew was pulled out of his thoughts by his Housemate.

"Actually, no. The wood and length aren't that uncommon, the wood's maple, and it's ten inches. The core is really rare though. There are only a handful of wands in the world with the same core as my wand."

"Really, what is it?" The teen asked in excitement.

"Have you ever heard of the Wuchowsen?" Matthew asked, curious about what he knew about Native American creatures.

"Umm, I've never heard of it. What is it?"

"The Wachowsen is a magical creature that lives in North America. It's a giant bird that controls the wind and determines where and how hard it blows. It creates hurricanes and tornadoes with the flap of its wings."

"Whoa, that sounds pretty cool, is there multiple of them, like the phoenixes?"

"Nope, there's only one Wuchowsen and he's as old as the land itself. Every few decades, the Wuchowsen will actually give a feather to a wand maker to put in a wand. The wand with the feather is super picky about who it chooses, and it's so powerful that the witch or wizard that receives it has to be mentored on how to use it, or it can lead to chaos."

"So your wand is maple with a Wuchowsen feather core?" Matthew nodded in response, he was very proud of his wand. "That's pretty sweet."

~.~.~.~.

Alfred looked down at his draught with a proud grin. It had come out perfectly, but he had expected nothing less. He looked around and saw that many students were still busy brewing their own potions and were focusing intently. With a start, Alfred noticed that the boy next to him was about to move on without adding the hellebore like the instructions said.

"Wait, don't do that." He whispered as low as he could without having to worry about being caught. The black haired boy looked at him in confusion.

"Why not?" He asked, wondering if the blond was trying to mess him up.

"You forgot to add the hellebore." Alfred hissed, moving back to his seat before Snape could catch him and think he was trying to help/get help from the boy.

Harry was startled when the transfer student stopped him from making a big mistake he knew Snape would never let him love down. He corrected his mistake before moving on to the next step.

He was surprised when for the rest of the class, the transfer student would stop him from making any mistakes. The blond male was watching him like a hawk and would occasionally glance at the blackboard. However, any time Snape came near, he managed to make it look like he was looking in the worn, ancient looking book in his lap.

By the end of class, Harry was surprised that his potion had the light silver vapor rising from it that Snape said should be. All attention was now on the blond sitting next to him, his potion looked like a mirror image of his and Hermione's despite taking half as long and much less complex.

"Mr. Kirkland, as we agreed, it is now time for you to try your potion." Snape sneered, expecting the teen to chicken out at the last second. However, he was surprised when the male gave him a cocky smirk.

He filled a glass vial with his potion before swaggering up to the front of the class, his cocky grin still plastered to his face. When he reached the front of the class, the transfer student turned around to face the class. Without a second of hesitation, he put the vial to his lips and tipped his head back, downing the entire thing.

The whole class waited with baited breath for how the teen would react to the potion. The Gryffindors were hoping he had made it correctly and became the first to successfully stand up to Snape. The Slytherins however were hoping for him to pass out so they could rub it in the Gryffindor's face later.

For a second Alfred swayed where he stood, the draught giving him a weird feeling. A split second later the feeling was replaced by one of bliss. He smiled serenely at the teacher before moving back to his seat. "Looks like I win professor dude, you have to hold up your side of the bargain." Alfred was glad he agreed to this, after the panic attack, this was exactly what he needed to help him calm down.

Snape had no choice but to accept it. His Slytherins might back him if he denied it, but there was no way the Gryffindors would agree. "Yes, you and your brother are free to make the potions I have assigned, however you must still make the potions I instruct."

"Not going to argue with you there teacher dude. As long as me and Mattie can make them however we want we won't argue about it." Alfred nodded in response.

"Everybody else fill one flagon with a sample of your potion, label it clearly with your name, and bring it up to my desk for testing," said Snape. "Homework: twelve inches of parchment on the properties of moonstone and its uses in potion-making, to be handed in on Thursday."

While the other students filled their flagons and took them to the front, Alfred packed his things away. He carefully put his potion book in after everything. When the bell rang he stood up and headed out to the Great Hall for lunch. He couldn't wait to relay the news to Mattie, before they headed off to Ancient Runes together.

* * *

Welcome to the bottom everyone, what did you think?

I know you guys were expecting a bigger confrontation between Alfred and Snape, but trust me, I have something big planned for them later. It has to do with punch, a lot of animals, and a misplaced potion. Also, I did have to look up things that Americans made for this, did you know we made the cupcake? I sure didn't, but I do now.

I also want to say that the multi-accent thing was another thing my co-author helped me come up with. We wanted to find a way for Alfred to piss Snape off without giving him a legitimate reason to get Alfred in trouble. We decided that Alfred's many, many accents would come in handy in a situation like this.

For Matthew's explanation about the familial situation in the FACE family, this was not my own idea. I borrowed this from another author from another Pottertalia story. If any can give me the name of the author and story, I will happily give them credit, as it is a brilliant explanation. Also, Matthew will try to go by Bonnefoy from this point.

This chapter I went over Matthew's wand. Now I know Maple wood has an analysis, but I know for a fact that wuchowsen feather does not have one. What I opted for in this story is that the wand of a nation has more to do with ties to the land than actually personality. So for nations that have mythical creatures exclusive to their land, their wand would have a core coming from that creature. For example, Scotland would have either unicorn hair, since it is the national animal, or a scale from the Loch Ness Monster. The wood would also be significant to the land, maybe even a species that only grows on their land, so Japan might have a cherry blossom wand. Since the national symbol of Canada is the sugar maple, his wand is made out of sugar maple. While I'm not entirely sure which tribes believed in the Wuchowsen, I know that it was something believed by several tribes in Native America, so I chose it for Mattie's wand.

For the author who was worried about Matthew missing out on half of his Charm class, worry not my love. Matthew has almost 400 years of experience practicing magic. He knows Summoning Charms like the back of his hand. He didn't miss out on anything but the O.W.L.s explanation and a few minutes of practicing a spell he has down to a t. And don't worry, there will be more interaction between the twins and their House mates.

So now, the part I'm sure you're all eagerly waiting for. After tallying the votes from the review, the vote came out to 7-5. This means that Matthew will not be joining his Quidditch, apologies to this who wanted to see him on the team, but the majority has spoken. However, for those who are eager to see Alfred join, got any guesses on what position me and my co-author have decided on? Although there are only 4 positions to choose from, I'll give you a hint, it has to do with his national symbol. That probably gave it away didn't it? Oh well, let's see how many can get it.

That's all for now, love it, hate it, just review it. Buh-bye!


	7. Chapter 7

Hey everybody, I'm back with a new chapter. I'm so sorry that this is a week late, like I mentioned last chapter I spent Thanksgiving with family in another state. I had no access to internet for the past week so I wasn't able to update.

Unfortunately I have even more bad news. Since 2 or 3 chapters ago I've had serious writer's block for chapter 9. My friends have tried to help me muddle through it, but it's incredibly difficult. If any of you have any suggestions for what you'd want to see next chapter, feel free to suggest. The only thing I want to say is that the next chapter takes place for all of Tuesday, nothing past. This will remain open until chapter 9 is posted, all recommendations are greatly appreciated.

I want to thank everyone who reviewed, your reviews motivate me very much. I also want to thank everyone who favorited and followed, thank you for giving me and this story a chance. That's all for now, enjoy!

* * *

When he couldn't find Mattie in the Great Hall, Alfred took a seat at his House's table. They had come to an unspoken agreement that they would sit at the table of whoever got to the Hall first. Piling food onto his plate, Alfred started to dig in.

A couple minutes later Matthew joined his twin at the Gryffindor table. "Good job on showing the Snape guy whose boss." Matthew congratulated his twin.

"Thanks Mattie, that dude seriously needed to be a taught a lesson. Now we can make the potions he assigns however we went." Alfred grinned happily. "Can you believe he called me insignificant? I mean, with what my people have invented, patented and discovered, the world wouldn't be the same."

Matthew had to agree, without airplanes, telephones, and even fire hydrants, the world would be a completely different place. Granted, some of the people who invented these things were immigrants, so they would still be invented, but many were made by US citizens, including the Wright Brothers.

While they were eating, an ear piercing screech sounded throughout the room. Everyone's heads shot up, wondering what could have caused that, it sounded nothing like an owl. Alfred and Matthew however looked up in anticipation.

From the open windows flew a huge bird with brown feathers on the body and white plumage on its head. The wingspan was as larger than most of the people in the hall, stretching well over 6 feet. It circled the room in search of someone, and when it spotted them, it tucked its wings in and dove.

The students gasp, watching as the bird dove towards the Gryffindor table. Seconds before it would crash into the table, it snapped its wings out and landed gracefully.

"Hey Liberty, how was the flight?" Alfred asked the bald eagle, offering her some fish from his plate. The bald eagle gave it glance before snapping it up. As the eagle ate, Alfred and Matthew grabbed the letters attached to her legs.

Alfred looked through his and when he saw papers addressed to the country of Canada, he swapped letters with his brother. The first he read was from his president. Thankfully it was short and simple.

 _Alfred_

 _It's unfortunate that you are stuck in Scotland for a year. If you are sure there is nothing we can do to get you out of there, then it seems we have no other choice. Any important paperwork that needs your signature will be sent to your MACUSA president so he can send it to you through magical means. The only thing I worry about is the security of the documents sent. While I have no problem with sending the documents to the MACUSA president, but as you know, the subject of these documents is very sensitive. We can't risk these documents ending up in the wrong hands. I would prefer if we can use your eagle to transport the more sensitive documents as I know it can protect the documents. As I will be working with Delaware until your return, I will have him notify you when such documents need to be transported. Try to stay out of trouble Alfred._

 _Until next time_

 _President Bill Clinton_

Alfred was surprised he hadn't thought of that before. If anyone knew what was being sent, they would try to intercept the messenger to take the documents. Luckily though, few people could mess with a bald eagle and escape unscathed. Liberty could seriously injure anyone anybody who tried to mess with her, her wings were powerful enough to break bones, her beak could snap fingers like twigs, and her talons were sharper than knives.

The letter from the president of the MACUSA wasn't as short. His magical president was furious at him being trapped in Scotland and that the British Minister of Magic wasn't doing anything about it. He had already sent a very angry, very heavily worded owl to the Minister. He had agreed to owl any non-important messages from the non-maj president to him, but agreed it was best to use Liberty for the important stuff.

"Hey Lib, you up for a trip to Ben? I need some Potion ingredients that are only available in America, and Ben's going to get double of everything for me and Mattie." Liberty simply looked at him, her pale-yellow eyes piercing through him.

Alfred looked to his twin who was also reading a letter from one of his Ministers. "Hey Matt, do you have anything you need to send through Liberty? I want to send her to Ben for Potion ingredients."

"I do have something to send to Laura, but I could use a school owl to send it. What are you asking Ben to send?" Matthew asked, folding his letters up.

"I'll make a list of everything I want and if you can think of anything else you can just add it to the list." Matthew nodded in response. Alfred conjured up a sheet of paper and started writing down the list of things he might need. When he finished, he handed the list to Matthew, who looked it over, thought for a few seconds, and added a few more things to the list.

"I have to go grab my other expandable bag so Ben can use it to send the ingredients." Alfred said, getting up to go back to his dorm. Liberty jumped up, landing on Alfred's shoulder, Alfred swayed for a few seconds to regain his balance. She only weighed about 11 pounds so it wasn't hard for him to carry her, she had just knocked him off balance slightly.

"Alright, I'm going to the Owlery to send a letter to Laura. I want to know if she can send me some seal blubber for Kumachimichanga."

"Alright, catch you back here for Ancient Runes." Alfred headed to his dorm room, a 3-foot long bird perched on his shoulder. At the dorm, he grabbed his extra expandable bag and put the list in the bag before handing it to Liberty.

Liberty grabbed the bag in her talons and leaped onto her partner's shoulder, perching precariously with the bag in one of her talons. Her partner walked over to the window by his nest and opened it, she jumped onto the windowsill before jumping out. She snapped her wings open once she was out in the open.

From the Owlery Matthew could see Liberty taking off for North America. She had her own way of getting to the other continent quickly, while the owls were stuck with some kind of crude Pony Express.

The owl he sent would have to go to the post office, where the workers there would attach his letter to an owl that would be put on Portkey to the main magic post office in Canada. From there the owl would take the letter to Laura. On the way back they would have to swap owls again after going through the Portkey. They would swap his letter and package to another owl who would then bring it to him with the morning post.

Liberty was definitely easier and faster, but Matthew had to admit that potion ingredients were more important than some snacks for his bear. He'd just have to leave a few coins to pay for the post. Matthew looked up at the owls and gave a soft whistle. A small barn owl took notice of him and hopped down from the rafters onto his shoulder. Matthew attached the letter and bag to the owl's legs before saying, "Would you please take this to the post office in Hogsmeade?"

The owl hooted before taking off out the window. Matthew had marked Laura's address in Nova Scotia, hopefully she was there when the post owl got there. She might be staying in his main house in Ottawa though, but hopefully that wasn't the case.

Rejoining in the Great Hall, they headed to Ancient Runes together. "So did the teacher tell you what they were going to be studying this year?" Alfred asked out of curiosity.

"She said that they were mostly going to be reviewing for the O.W.L.s but she was also planning on starting Celtic. She wasn't planning on going too far in though, since she would be officially starting that with her O.W.L. class."

"Well that sucks, we won't be learning anything about ancient runes. At least we can get help for the things we're reviewing." Alfred responded.

When they got to the class they found a pair of seats right next to each other in the middle of the room. They quickly swooped in and took them. Matthew pulled out his textbook and leafed through the pages out of both curiosity and boredom. There were a few interesting things he might ask the other nations about, especially the ones that were listed as unknown.

Alfred meanwhile was watching as a familiar looking brunette walked into the room. It was the girl who had saved him and Mattie the trouble of having to go back to that dreaded room for his books. "Matt, save my seat for a second." When he received a distracted nod, he stood up and made his way over to the girl, it was only polite to thank her after all.

The girl had taken a seat in the front of the class and had pulled the textbook, a quill, inkpots and sheets of paper for notes. She looked up when Alfred approached her.

"Hey, I wanted to say thank you for grabbing my books for me. The bag had all my Potions things and professor dude probably would have chewed me out for not having them."

"Oh, no problem, thanks for helping my friend Harry out during Potions. Professor Snape has a strong dislike for him and most likely would have punished him for it being wrong. Although, I am curious, how did you make the Draught in so little time?"

"My mom used to be great at making potions. She would experiment with ways to cut the time on brewing, make it less complex, more successful, and what ingredients would help with those things. When she passed away, she left behind a book with all her potion recipes. Me and Mattie always used it back in Ilvermorny, and it hasn't let us down."

"So you and your brother are transfer students, right? You said you went to Ilvermorny, but you both have slightly different accents, so where are you guys from?"

"We're from North America, Ilvermorny's the biggest magic school in the United States of America. The accents are just things we've picked up from other students. Mattie was best friends with a Canadian transfer in Pukwudgie and I got mine from my best friend Tony, who was from California. I learned a lot of accents from my schoolmates, hence the southern one in class."

"If you don't mind me asking, if you were attending school in North America, which is an ocean away, why are you here in Scotland?"

"My brother and I were visiting our father and uncle over the summer break. Our father lives in London while our uncle lives in Edinburgh. We had been touring Scotland with our uncle when we came to see Hogwarts. We had seen the outside and were heading back to Hogsmeade when we discovered that me and Mattie were trapped. Our father and the Minister decided it was best that we attend this school year at Hogwarts, since it was so close to the beginning of school."

The pair was cut off by the teacher entering the room. Alfred moved back to his seat next to Matthew and pulled out his own textbook. "Good afternoon class, today we will be taking a test to see how much you remember. For the transfer students, this will also help me find out how much you two know so I can help you catch up with the rest of the class. The questions are on the board; you may now begin."

The professor flicked her wand at the board and questions appeared on it. Alfred pulled out a sheet of paper and a pen before starting on the test.

He didn't recognize many of the questions or the runes. He tried his best to answer the ones he did know, which were the ones about Egyptian hieroglyphs, the Greek alphabet and some Celtic ones he remembered seeing Arthur use.

Matthew hadn't faired any better. His knowledge about Runes was limited to what he had seen in Arthur's house, the Greek alphabet, and sometimes when he hung out with Gilbert he would see Germanic ruins. However, he never asked what they meant.

Deciding to just hand it in with the things he knew, Alfred walked to the front of the class and handed his paper to the teacher. Heading back to his desk Alfred looked through his textbook. For the most part it reviewed Runes the past books had gone over. Alfred decided to read through it, he might as well start learning what the others had gone over.

By the time the others finished the test, Matthew and Alfred had gotten a good portion into the first chapter. "I want everyone to start reading the first chapter, while I talk with the transfer students."

The twins put their books down as the teacher approached them. "Well, Alfred you seem to know quite a lot about Egyptian hieroglyphs, and a tiny bit about Celtic ruins. Matthew, you know a bit more about Celtic ruins, and barely anything about Germanic ruins. You both have a good grasp on the Greek alphabet. I'm actually surprised you both know any Celtic, it's quite a complicated set of ruins. Egyptian hieroglyphs aren't quite as complex, but are still difficult to translate.

"You don't have any knowledge about any other ruins. What I recommended is you boys get the past two books for this class. Read through them and if you can, try to find someone to tutor you to help you learn."

"Alright, we'll see if our dad can send us the past two books for Ancient Runes." Alfred responded, making sure to remind himself later to send an owl to Arthur about it.

"Until you get them, I recommend you read through this year's textbook, while it's mostly review it should help you get a general grasp on the ruins. You should also pay attention during class as I will be going over them." The twins nodded in response, going back to their textbooks.

The professor turned and walked back to the front of the class. "Well class, welcome back to Ancient Runes. I hope you've studied over the break as this year you will be taking your O.W.L.s. As you know, the O.W.L.s are the most important exam in your school life. They determine what classes you'll be able to take next year, and after those will be your N.E.W.T.s which will determine what career you can pursue.

"This year we will be reviewing what we've covered over the past two years. If we can finish the review, we will start on Celtic ruins. Don't be too excited though, we won't be getting too far into it, as it is an O.W.L level subject. Now we will first begin to go over the Greek ruins, now as you may remember, the English alphabet has drawn most of its influence from the Greek alphabet."

Alfred wasn't too surprised about that. His military did use for designations after all, Alpha, Beta, Gamma, and so on, all the way down to Omega. He was sure that was how Mattie knew it as well, as his military used the same designations. Thankfully he wouldn't have to learn too much about this section of the ruins. Besides, he doubted he could have gotten any help from Heracles, the dude had a serious case of narcolepsy.

"Now, who can remind me how many words are in the Greek alphabet?" Most of students in the class raised their hands, including Alfred and Matthew's. "How about one of our transfer students, Mr. Kirkland?"

The twins looked at each other in hesitation, which of them was she referring to? Alfred decided to take the lead, answering "That would be 24."

"That's correct, now the Greek alphabet is very much like our own in a few ways. Can anyone tell me one of the ways?" Again, most of the class' hands shot up. "How about we give the other transfer student a chance, Mr.-?"

"Bonnefoy, please call me Mr. Bonnefoy, so it's easier for us to know which one of us your talking to." Matthew responded, it was probably better that they tell all their teachers to refer to him by Francis' last name. It would definitely make things easier. "The word alphabet itself is actually composed of the first two letters of the Greek alphabet, Alpha and Beta, which also happen to be what influenced the first two letters of the English alphabet, a and b."

"Correct Mr. Bonnefoy, now the Greek alphabet is not usually used in everyday life, but is used in some muggle militaries." The bell rang, cutting off the professor before she could continue and the class started packing.

"Alright, for homework write down all the letters of the Greek alphabet and their English equivalents, as well as a page and a half about its influence on the English alphabet, due Thursday." The class headed out the door.

"Looks like I've got Potions next, thanks for establishing those rules Al. I won't have to worry about arguing with him about it." Matthew thanked his brother again, he preferred not to get into a confrontation. "The only thing I'm worried about is him giving me a hard time because of that."

"He better not." Alfred growled in anger, "His problem is with me not you, if he gives you a hard time, I'll make his life a living hell while we're here. You better tell me if he does pick on you, don't just endure it like the other kids here do." Matthew nodded in response. His brother was scary when he was mad, especially when he was being protective.

"Well, I have Defense Against the Dark Arts now, so see you after class." Alfred waved farewell to his twin as he headed to the class the school was guiding him to.

When he entered the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom he found the short, plump, unpleasant woman from dinner already seated at the teacher's desk, wearing the fluffy pink cardigan of the night before and the black velvet bow on top of her head. Alfred noticed the boy he had helped in Potions sitting with the girl from Ancient Runes and a boy with red hair. Alfred noticed an empty seat close to them and decided to take it. It would probably be good to make some friends while he was here.

Before he could move to take it though the teacher spoke up. "Mr. Kirkland, if I may have a word with you." Alfred hesitated, he really did not like this woman, but if she worked with the Minister, it's possible she could need to tell him something important.

"Of course professor, what can I do for you?" He asked, plastering a fake smile on his face and slipping into a false persona.

"I was contacted by the Minister of Magic himself regarding yourself and your brother. I was told that you both will be allowed to practice your Defense Against the Dark Arts and are exempt from any rules that I enforce. Neither of you will be required to attend the classes I'll be teaching but you are expected to at least read the book. Now, I prefer that you attend class and follow the same rules and lesson plans as the rest of the students, but the Minister seems to think you both are special. So you will get this period and Friday's class off. You can still attend though, so don't forget that."

"Well, thank you for letting me know ma'am, I'll try not to get into too much trouble or break any rules." Alfred lied with a smile still plastered on his face.

Honestly he could care less about what she thought about him. He knew people like her like the back of his hand, if someone said anything they didn't agree with, they had a hissy fit and would make everyone's life a living hell. Unfortunately, that meant if he pissed her off, she'd take it out on the students. Alfred was more than happy to feed her lies so she didn't end up too pissed and end up punishing the students in his stead. That was definitely what a hero would do in his situation.

So she definitely worked with the minister and was under orders not to interfere with him and Mattie. That was good, at least they wouldn't have any problems when it came to work. The way she said that she was going to enforce rules worried Alfred. Was she going to have control of the entire school? This was definitely something he was bringing to Arthur's attention when he sent him an owl later.

"I think I'll be attending class for today professor, I am quite curious about your teaching methods." Umbridge smirked in triumph and Alfred felt himself bristle. 'You're doing it to protect the students, you're being a hero.' He reminded himself mentally. With that in mind he decided to take the still empty seat by the trio of friends.

Alfred sighed as he took the seat, pulling out the Defense Against the Dark Arts book. This caught the attention of the three sitting in front of him.

"Oh, hello there, you know I never did learn your name." The girl piped up first, "I believe both Professor Snape and Professor Babbling called you Mr. Kirkland, but what's your first name?"

"My name's Alfred F. Jo-Kirkland, Alfred F. Kirkland," Alfred was thankful he had caught the mistake before he had accidently given out his real name. Unfortunately, he hadn't caught the glimpse the trio shared after noticing the mistake. Out of curiosity he asked, "What are your guys' names?"

"I'm Hermione Granger." The girl, Hermione, responded.

"Ron Weasley." The red head beside her muttered, he didn't seem all that happy to be there.

The raven haired boy sighed, a look of resignation crossing his face, "I'm Harry Potter."

Alfred was confused for a second, wondering why the ravenette didn't seem so happy to give this information. Then he remembered the rumors he had heard about the teen circulating the school, as well as Arthur's praise for him.

"Oh yeah, my dad told me about you, something about killing off a wizard Hitler and stopping a war. That's pretty sweet dude." Alfred finally responded.

"Wait, you've never heard about He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named or Harry Potter?" Ron asked in surprise. Just where was this guy from.

"Not really, I mean, on North America this Voldemort dude wasn't that big. Hmm, let me think, 15 years ago. John Lennon was shot, America boycotted the Olympics, a major heat wave, the war between Iraq and Iran started, oh, and Pac Man first came out." Alfred grinned triumphantly in remembering the war that had broken out. It was the only thing that hadn't happened in his land that he remembered.

"So you guys never heard about the war that Voldemort almost started?" Ron was surprised, since the whole wizarding community feared He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named.

"Not really, the only reason I know who he is, is because my dad told me and Matthew about it. We do learn world history, but that's no-maj history. The only magical history we learn is our own nation's magic history. We learn about things like the migration of wizards to the new world, the formation of the MACUSA, and the influence of the magical community on the no-maj wars."

"What are no-majs?" Ron asked, the other two curious about that as well.

"No-maj are what we call people who don't have magic. I think you guys call them muggles here in Britain right?" When he received a nod, he continued. "Well, I think that's a bit of a derogatory term, so I just keep using non-majs." Alfred responded. Alfred stopped talking when he noticed the rest of the class file in, looks like class was ready to start.

* * *

Welcome to the bottom everyone, what did you think?

I had to do a bit of research for this story, from the capital of Canada, to things that happened in 1980. It was interesting to look up.

I know Alfred is interested in archaeology, and his last name might be interested in Indiana Jones, so I figured Alfred would have some knowledge about Egyptian hieroglyphs. And there are indeed a lot of influences from the Greek alphabet in the English alphabet, but I won't be focusing on this.

I have had the first interaction between Alfred and the trio. Already he's made a mistake and they've recognized, they're a sharp group. There won't be interaction between the four of them for quite a while, I'm going to focus on him and Mattie's interactions with other students, specifically the only two Hufflepuffs we really know.

As for the no-maj versus muggle thing, it's a thing that I say. I feel Muggle is a derogatory term that no-majs would take offense to if they knew the word existed. No-maj is simple and descriptive, there wouldn't be any offense taken by it.

During my vacation with the family, I got to watch Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. Did any of you guys watch it? Did you enjoy it and what was your favorite magical creature? I absolutely loved it, and my favorite was probably the Niffler, he was so cute.

Anyways, that's all for now, love it, hate it, just review it. Buh-bye!


	8. Chapter 8

Hey everybody, I'm back with a new chapter. I almost forgot about the schedule today, and almost accidentally uploaded this a day late. Thankfully I was watching GTLive while writing another story when it hit me.

I want to thank everyone who has reviewed, especially those who have given recommendations. I am still accepting recommendations, and if I use your idea I will mention you in the author's note of the chapter. I am still accepting them until next Tuesday, as that is when I plan to upload the next one.

I want to thank everyone who Favorited and Followed this story. Thank you so much for giving me and this story a chance. That's all I have to stay for now, see you down at the bottom. Enjoy!

* * *

The class was quiet as the rest of them entered the room. "Well, good afternoon!" Professor Umbridge said when finally, the whole class had sat down.

A few people mumbled "Good afternoon," in reply.

"Tut, tut," said Professor Umbridge. "That won't do, now, will it? I should like you, please, to reply 'Good afternoon, Professor Umbridge.' One more time, please. Good afternoon, class!"

"Good afternoon, Professor Umbridge," they chanted back at her. Alfred had to hold back a growl, and in his mind, he could feel Matthew also bristling at the woman's tone. These were 15 year-olds, they did not need to be spoken to like children.

"There, now," said Professor Umbridge sweetly. "That wasn't too difficult, was it? Wands away and quills out, please."

Many of the class exchanged gloomy looks; the order "wands away" had never yet been followed by a lesson they had found interesting. Alfred merely put his wand back in the bag and watched the professor, not even bothering to grab his pen and paper.

Professor Umbridge opened her handbag, extracted her own wand, which was an unusually short one, and tapped the blackboard sharply with it; words appeared on the board at once:

 _Defense Against the Dark Arts A Return to Basic Principles._

"Well now, your teaching in this subject has been rather disrupted and fragmented, hasn't it?" stated Professor Umbridge, turning to face the class with her hands clasped neatly in front of her. "The constant changing of teachers, many of whom do not seem to have followed any Ministry-approved curriculum, has unfortunately resulted in your being far below the standard we would expect to see in your O.W.L. year.

"You will be pleased to know, however, that these problems are now to be rectified. We will be following a carefully structured, theory centered, Ministry-approved course of defensive magic this year. Copy down the following, please." She rapped the blackboard again; the first message vanished and was replaced by:

 _Course aims:_

 _the principles underlying defensive magic._

 _to recognize situations in which defensive magic can legally be used._

 _the use of defensive magic in a context for practical use._

For a couple of minutes, the room was full of the sound of scratching quills on parchment. When everyone had copied down Professor Umbridge's three course aims she said, "Has everybody got a copy of Defensive Magical Theory by Wilbert Slinkhard?"

There was a dull murmur of assent throughout the class.

"I think we'll try that again," said Professor Umbridge. "When I ask you a question, I should like you to reply 'Yes, Professor Umbridge,' or 'No, Professor Umbridge.' So, has everyone got a copy of Defensive Magical Theory by Wilbert Slinkhard?"

"Yes, Professor Umbridge," rang through the room. Al didn't know if he'd be able to survive a full year with this woman, he could barely stand her right now, and like many people just like her, she was bound to get worse.

"Good," said Professor Umbridge. "I should like you to turn to page five and read chapter one, 'Basics for Beginners.' There will be no need to talk." Professor Umbridge left the blackboard and settled herself in the chair behind the teacher's desk, observing them all with those pouchy toad's eyes. Alfred turned to page five of his copy of Defensive Magical Theory and started to read.

It was definitely quite a dull read, but Alfred had honed his reading skills over the years and was able to keep trudging along. He was halfway through the chapter when he noticed Hermione hadn't even opened her book and was staring at the professor with her hand raised. Apparently it had been up for quite a while as most the class was staring at her by now.

When more than half the class were staring at Hermione rather than at their books, Professor Umbridge seemed to decide that she could ignore the situation no longer.

"Did you want to ask something about the chapter, dear?" she asked Hermione, as though she had only just noticed her.

"Not about the chapter, no," said Hermione.

"Well, we're reading just now," said Professor Umbridge, showing her small, pointed teeth. "If you have other queries we can deal with them at the end of class."

"I've got a query about your course aims," said Hermione.

Professor Umbridge raised her eyebrows. "And your name is — ?"

"Hermione Granger," said Hermione.

"Well, Miss Granger, I think the course aims are perfectly clear if you read them through carefully," said Professor Umbridge in a voice of determined sweetness.

"Well, I don't," said Hermione bluntly. "There's nothing written up there about using defensive spells."

There was a short silence in which many members of the class turned their heads to frown at the three course aims still written on the blackboard. Alfred was curious about this as well. If there really was a war about to happen, shouldn't the Ministry be preparing the children for it? Maybe not as far as learning to attack people, but like what to do or where to go in case of an invasion or something along those lines.

"Using defensive spells?" Professor Umbridge repeated with a little laugh. "Why, I can't imagine any situation arising in my classroom that would require you to use a defensive spell, Miss Granger. You surely aren't expecting to be attacked during class?"

"We're not going to use magic?" Ron ejaculated loudly. Alfred winced, this definitely wasn't going to end well, people in her position did not like to be question or interrupted.

"Students raise their hands when they wish to speak in my class, Mr.- ?"

"Weasley," said Ron, thrusting his hand into the air.

Professor Umbridge, smiling still more widely, turned her back on him. Harry and Hermione immediately raised their hands too. Professor Umbridge's pouchy eyes lingered on Harry for a moment before she addressed Hermione.

"Yes, Miss Granger? You wanted to ask something else?"

"Yes," said Hermione. "Surely the whole point of Defense Against the Dark Arts is to practice defensive spells?"

"Are you a Ministry-trained educational expert, Miss Granger?" asked Professor Umbridge in her falsely sweet voice.

"No, but —"

"Well then, I'm afraid you are not qualified to decide what the 'whole point' of any class is. Wizards much older and cleverer than you have devised our new program of study. You will be learning about defensive spells in a secure, risk-free way —"

"What use is that?" said Harry loudly. "If we're going to be attacked it won't be in a —"

"Hand, Mr. Potter!" sang Professor Umbridge. Harry thrust his fist in the air. Professor Umbridge promptly turned away from him again, but now several other people had their hands up too. This was going about as well as Alfred expected for a confrontation.

"And your name is?" Professor Umbridge said to Dean.

"Dean Thomas."

"Well, Mr. Thomas?"

"Well, it's like Harry said, isn't it?" said Dean. "If we're going to be attacked, it won't be risk-free —"

"I repeat," said Professor Umbridge, smiling in a very irritating fashion at Dean, "do you expect to be attacked during my classes?"

"No, but —"

Professor Umbridge talked over him. "I do not wish to criticize the way things have been run in this school," she said, an unconvincing smile stretching her wide mouth, "but you have been exposed to some very irresponsible wizards in this class, very irresponsible indeed — not to mention," she gave a nasty little laugh, "extremely dangerous half-breeds."

"If you mean Professor Lupin," piped up Dean Thomas angrily, "he was the best we ever —"

"Hand, Mr. Thomas! As I was saying — you have been introduced to spells that have been complex, inappropriate to your age group, and potentially lethal. You have been frightened into believing that you are likely to meet Dark attacks every other day —"

"No we haven't," Hermione said, "we just —"

"Your hand is not up, Miss Granger!" Hermione put up her hand; Professor Umbridge turned away from her. "It is my understanding that my predecessor not only performed illegal curses in front of you, he actually performed them on you —"

"Well, he turned out to be a maniac, didn't he?" said Dean Thomas hotly. "Mind you, we still learned loads —"

"Your hand is not up, Mr. Thomas!" trilled Professor Umbridge. "Now, it is the view of the Ministry that a theoretical knowledge will be more than sufficient to get you through your examination, which, after all, is what school is all about. And your name is?" she added, staring at Parvati, whose hand had just shot up

"Parvati Patil, and isn't there a practical bit in our Defense Against the Dark Arts O.W.L.? Aren't we supposed to show that we can actually do the countercurses and things?"

"As long as you have studied the theory hard enough, there is no reason why you should not be able to perform the spells under carefully controlled examination conditions," said Professor Umbridge dismissively.

"Without ever practicing them before?" said Parvati incredulously. "Are you telling us that the first time we'll get to do the spells will be during our exam?"

"I repeat, as long as you have studied the theory hard enough —"

"Excuse me professor." Alfred finally spoke up, as he stood from his seat. He had enough of this woman's rambling and was ready to finally say something.

Umbridge's eyes bugged as she looked at the transfer student. She wanted to reprimand the male, but had her orders to do no such thing. The boy was apparently part of the American wizarding community and had a heavy influence on the Ministry. Any wrong thing said or done could cause an uproar with the more powerful nation of wizards.

The students were surprised when Umbridge said nothing about the transfer student cutting her off. She looked like she had swallowed rat poison, but responded with a smile "Yes Mr. Kirkland?"

"I might be wrong, but from what I've been taught by both the magic teachers at my old school, and my father, who also happens to be part of the Ministry, Defense Against the Dark Arts can't be taught in just theories. In order for a student to properly be able to execute a spell, charm, jinx, or hex, the student must practice it first."

"Well, Mr. Kirkland, as I have said before, the Ministry believes that this will be enough to get the other students through the O.W.L.s. As you already have permission to practice these spells, I do not see why you are opposed to them." The students were surprised at this, why had this kid gotten exclusive permission to use spells, despite the Ministry not wanting them to?

"Professor Umbridge, do you know what a fire drill or an earthquake drill are?" The Muggleborn and raised students were beginning to see where this was going.

"I don't believe I have Mr. Kirkland, what are they?" Of course Umbridge wouldn't know, it was a Muggle thing and the woman obviously saw such things as beneath her.

"You see, in America, and England as well I believe, schools would run these kinds of drills, as a sort of simulation. An alarm is sounded, and the children are expected to react in the same way they would in the case of an actual emergency. During a fire drill, students would be expected to line up, and make their way out of the class to a clear and open space in an orderly fashion. In an earthquake drill, students are required to get underneath their desks and remain there until told they can come out."

"I don't understand what this has to do with what I am teaching Mr. Kirkland." Umbridge said, getting frustrated with the blond.

"It has everything to do with it. You see, while most schools will never experience a fire or an earthquake in its students' lifetime, it's still important for the students to know what would happen in the case of an emergency. The teachers are also expected to know what to do at a time like this so they can get the students out safely. It's not a question on if it will happen, but what to do when it happens so there are the least number of casualties as possible."

"Mr. Kirkland, I assure you that no one will be in any danger while they are attending Hogwarts." Umbridge was growing red with each second that passed.

"But that's what you don't seem to understand professor, you can't actually guarantee that. You can make all the promises you want, but if the school were to let someone or something slip in, there's nothing you can do. Two years ago, didn't a convicted murder find a way to slip into Hogwarts, past dementors, and attack three students and two faculty members?"

"W-well yes, but-" Umbridge stuttered.

"And was that man not later captured by the Ministry, only to slip past them and into freedom again?" Alfred growled, growing more and more serious.

"That is also true, but-"

"What if this man had decided to go back on a killing spree, except with all the students here in Hogwarts? The man had killed before, there was no guarantee he wouldn't again. If this man had gotten it into his head to attack innocent students, and said students didn't know how to protect themselves, how would that have ended? I can tell you right now, it wouldn't have ended well for the Ministry who had promised to keep the students safe from a convicted mad man.

"Now let's say something like that happens again this year. While you refuse to allow these students learn and practice how to use defensive spells, notorious murderer Sirius Black sneaks into Hogwarts and starts attacking students. Since these students don't know how to protect themselves, they are easy prey and are killed quickly. This continues until finally a large portion of the school is dead, because you refuse to let these students practice their defense. As cool as changing a bird into a teacup or making things fly is, they're not going to help somebody in danger."

"Mr. Kirkland, are you implying that Sirius Black will return to murder students? Because if you are, that's a ridiculous implication. With a ministry official here, he wouldn't dare show his face.

"That is not at all what I am saying professor. I am merely saying that things have happened in the past that would require the students know how to defend themselves to survive. Now how about 3 years ago when a basilisk had been released into the school and was petrifying students? Or last year when another psychopath had slipped into the school under the guise of another teacher, and caused the death of a student?

"These students have every right to learn how to defend themselves after the things that have happened over the past 3 years alone. And if that's something you don't agree with, I'd be more than happy to bring these incidents up to the president of the MACUSA as well as the parents of the students at this school. I'm sure they'd be just delighted to hear how the ministry is allowing their children to be put into danger. From what I know, Beauxbaton and Durmstrang are still accepting students, so I'm sure parents won't have a problem moving their children if they think they're in danger."

Everyone gaped at the American student as he sat back down, including Professor Umbridge. Needless to say, Umbridge was furious. Unfortunately, there was nothing she could do about it, if she punished the teen, he would most likely go straight to the Minister about it. She should have never told him he was excused from punishments.

Alfred was quite proud of himself for the speech he gave. Children were no laughing matter to nations; children were their future after all. Children needed to be protected and raised right so their nation had a chance for a better future. There was no way in hell he was going to accept that these kids weren't even allowed to defend themselves. He didn't care if he ended up getting a letter from Arthur scolding him about his behavior. If Arthur didn't care about his own citizens enough to see that this was wrong, then something needed to be done.

The class simply stared at Alfred, unsure what to say or do after the transfer's speech. Harry himself was upset that he had brought his godfather into it, implying the man would ever hurt anyone. Sirius wasn't a murderer, and wouldn't hurt a child. But there was no way Alfred could know about that though, the only thing he probably knew was what his father and other students had told him, so he couldn't really blame the other for using him as an example.

~.~Line Break~.~

Matthew was sitting in Potions, listening to Snape give the O.W.L.s speech while he listened to Umbridge's bologna from his brother's point of view. He was grabbing the potion ingredients when Alfred started his speech. Matthew literally had to stop what he was doing as his brother kept going, stunned at Alfred's logic. His brother was definitely smarter than most gave him credit for, and when he let it show, it always caught everyone off guard.

By the end of his twin's speech, Matthew had recovered and was working on his potion. The Draught of Peace was relatively easy to make, he had absolutely no problem making it. When he was patiently waiting for his draught to finish brewing, Professor Snape walked over to him. Matthew watched in anticipation as the man stood in front of him.

"No snide remarks for me like your brother Mr. Kirkland?" Snape sneered at the violet eyed blond.

"Actually Professor, I prefer to go by Bonnefoy, and unlike my brother I prefer not to get into arguments. I find that it's not always the best way to settle a dispute." Matthew responded, turning his attention back to his draught. It was nearly complete, he just had to make sure to turn the fire down when the time was right to let it simmer.

"Well Mr. Kirkland, let's hope you are as good at potions as your brother claims you are." Snape sneered, not even acknowledging the boy's request.

"Trust me professor, my brother has not over exaggerated our skills. Even our father can't match our potion making, despite all of his skills." Matthew responded, tending to the flames. He really didn't see what this guy's problem was. He could understand being mad at Alfred, his brother tended to get under people's skin a lot, and usually he would end up catching the backlash since he looked almost identical to his twin. But this guy seemed to go out of his way to pick on everyone.

With the potion finished, Matthew sat back and relaxed, looking through his potion book. It had been an adventure to figure out all the proper methods to making the potions. Although it sometimes ended in explosions, Matthew was very fond of the memories.

Moving more towards the front of the book, towards the potions made by his and Al's mother, Matthew paused. He affectionately rubbed the page between his fingers, sometimes he really missed his mom, and he knew Al did too. He looked at the page he had stopped on, and was startled, he had almost forgotten about the Rite of Passage.

Every year, he and Al brewed it up for the 4th years to take if they wanted to. Before they had been settled, his mother used to give it to all the children who were coming of age, and the potion had been passed down for their own people. They had been adamant about keeping the potion a secret to the two of them and had been successful since their colonization.

Hopefully there wouldn't be any problems with them not being there. Usually Alfred took care of the ceremony, but sometimes he'd help out if the potion didn't take. They would just have to offer it to 4th and 5th years during the next school year.

By the end of class, Matthew was fed up with the professor. He criticized every student's potion, and not in the good way. He picked on many of the students and talked down to them, making them feel bad about themselves. Matthew figured this wasn't actually caused by Alfred's behavior, but was just normal behavior for the man. It sickened Matthew to see children being treated like this, but unfortunately there wasn't much he could do. Perhaps he could bring it to the attention of the Headmaster that his Potions professor was psychologically abusing the children.

When the bell rang, Matthew scooped his draught into a flagon and Banished the rest as he wrote his name on it. Placing the rest of his things into his bag, he walked to the front of the class and left the flagon on the desk before walking out the door.

He had quite a bit of homework to do, but thankfully none of it was difficult. He did not plan on returning to History of Magic, so there was no problem with that homework. Ancient Runes was simple enough, the Greek alphabet was easy to go over and find the influences. Moon stones were influential in many potions, so writing a page and a half about it shouldn't be a problem. Writing 2 feet about the basics of Summoning charms and their use in everyday life wouldn't be too difficult hopefully.

Heading towards the Great Hall, Matthew listened to the students around him gossip. For the most part it was unimportant things like summer break and who liked who. There was some gossip about the Potter kid, but he disregarded it, since it was all based on what the media thought of him.

When he finally reached the Great Hall, Matthew spotted his brother at his House table. He looked like he was writing something down, the plate of food in front of him relatively untouched. This surprised Matthew, something serious must be on his twin's mind. Delving slightly into their bond to try to get a read on the other's emotions, Matthew felt only frustration and focus. Something must have happened during Defense Against the Dark Arts.

Ignoring the looks he got from the other Gryffindors at the table, Matthew slid in next to his brother. Looking down at the paper, Matthew saw it was addressed to Arthur, and based on the first few sentences he saw, it was not just a pleasant hello. Alfred was pissed, and he wanted Arthur know as best he could.

"Penny for your thought," Matthew said catching his twin of guard. Alfred sighed as he folded the letter up, tucking it into his bag.

"I'm just wondering how the hell Arthur could just things like this slide. Upsetting the way things are taught here, preventing kids from learning how to defend themselves, and censoring everything in the school. I'm not sure if his Minister is doing it behind his back, or if he actually approved of this, but I'm definitely letting him know just what that woman is doing here and that I don't approve of it."

"Yeah, everything that woman's doing is wrong, I wish there was something more we could do than just whine about it." Matthew responded, starting to put food on his plate.

"I've already threatened to tell my magic boss and these students parents about just what has been going on if she chooses to continue insisting these students not learn practical magic. A war is about to begin, and these kids are going to be completely defenseless. All because the Ministry doesn't think students should learn to defend themselves." Alfred angrily stabbed a piece of meat in emphasis, bringing it up to her mouth to eat.

"I'm right behind you there. The parents should know just what the heck their kids are going through while they're here. I'm not sure what parent would want to send their child to a school where a killer snake, a murderous madman and a psychopath have all been allowed free reign. I'm surprised the only complaints are that parents don't want to send their kids to the same school as Harry Potter and Dumbledore." Matthew started to eat, leaving off there.

Alfred took his brother's cue and started eating as well. Alfred scarfed down his food, still upset over the past events, but he couldn't ignore his need for food. After finishing the twins got up and headed towards the library.

Taking a seat next to each other, they pulled out their textbooks, scrolls, and pens. "Alright, so how about we split our homework in half?" Alfred suggested. "That way we don't have to be here as long."

"Hmm, I think that would be a good idea. I mean, I normally don't like cheating, but we're not actually students so I don't think it matters." Matthew shrugged.

"Alright, how about I take Potions and Defense, and you'll take Transfiguration and Charms, for the main classes?"

"Sounds good, and for our electives, we'll just work together to do it." Alfred nodded in agreement before getting started on the Potions assignment. Matthew started on the Charms homework, even though Alfred wouldn't have it until tomorrow. At least he would be ahead in homework.

* * *

Welcome to the bottom everybody. How did you guys like it?

At first I was planning on Alfred playing nice so Umbridge wouldn't get mad and take it out on the kids. Then halfway through transferring the lines from the book to here, I realized Alfred would not let that happen without doing anything. So I decided to try something else, and I must say, serious Alfred is fun to write.

So until next chapter guys, love it, hate it, just review it. Buh-bye!


	9. Chapter 9

Hey guys, I'm back with another chapter. This chapter was really hard to write, and I'm not sure if I like how it ended up coming out. I'm sorry if this chapter isn't any good, I just had to get a chapter out to you guys.

I got some recommendations that I used and I want to thank the two that came up with things. The first is Polly Little, it wasn't too important but I did work it in. The other was a guest who wanted to see Alfred and Mattie fight Malfoy. It's probably not as big as you want, but it was the best I could come up with at the time. I apologize Monix13, your ideas were great, but I already had several things planned that conflicted with the things you recommended.

I want to thank everyone who reviewed and gave recommendations. I also want to thank everyone who favorited and followed, thank you for giving me and this story a chance. Enjoy!

* * *

Morning found Matthew waiting for Pierre to return, hopefully with coffee grounds. He really needed his coffee, he wasn't sure he could survive the week without it. He probably could, but he would rather not. Having refilled his flask, Matthew poured a hefty amount on his pancakes before digging in.

When the sound of wings filled the room, Matthew looked up. At first, he didn't notice anything amongst the owls, no flashy colors, or gigantic birds. A few seconds later, a large brown eagle followed the owl, however, unlike Liberty, it was completely brown, with no white feathers on it. It wasn't quite as large as Liberty, but it still dwarfed the owls around it.

It circled the room a few times before zeroing in on Matthew. It dove towards the table, evening it before landing in front of Matthew gracefully. It gave a trill as it held its leg out for Matthew to receive the letter attached to its leg.

Matthew carefully untied the letter as he offered a small plate of sausages to the raptor. It happily snapped up a few pieces as Matthew opened the letter. "Oh, your Antonio's eagle, sorry I didn't recognize you girl, he usually sends his letters through Papa." The bird cooed in response before continuing to scarf down the sausages.

 _Querido Matthew_

 _Hola mi amigo._ _No quiero escribir en inglés en caso de que alguien más reciba este mensaje._ _Sé que usted y su gemelo entienden español_ _y por eso estoy escribiendo en español_ _. Espero que estas hacienda bien en la escuela de magia. Francis me ha dicho que te ha pasado, lo siento mucho. Si hay algo que mi, Gilbert or tu padre podamos hacer, no tienes miedo de preguntar._ _Sé que no te gusta molestar a la gente, pero recuerda que estamos aquí para ti. Especialmente tu hermano, el te ama mucho, nunca olvidas eso. Eso es todo por ahora chico, cuídate y dile a tu hermano que no haga nada estúpido._

 _Con todo mi cariño_

 _Antonio Fernandez Carriedo_

 _Reino de España_

 _P.S.: Your papa told me you needed coffee, so I sent some with mi aguila for you and your brother. Francis and Gilbert will probably be sending some too, so you won't have to worry about running out anytime soon._

Matthew didn't take long to read the letter. With the immigration of Spaniards and Mexicans to his land, he had picked the language up pretty quickly. Not nearly as quickly as Alfred, but sharing a border with a Spanish speaking country tended to speed up the process a bit.

Matthew glanced back at the eagle to find a package clutched in her talons. He coaxed the bird to let go of it and was glad to find a package of ground coffee beans, grown and harvested in Spain. Matthew gave a happy squeal, drawing attention from a few kids around him. He blushed, ducking his head in embarrassment.

Deciding to just get on with it, Matthew grabbed a large bowl and filled it with water. Using his wand, he brought the water to a boil, before adding the coffee grounds. After realizing there wasn't anything for her to do, Spain's eagle took off, leaving Hogwarts.

Alfred joined Matthew as he was waiting for the coffee to finish seeping. Alfred lit up at the sight of the coffee grounds that Spain had sent. He would have to send him a letter later thanking him for it. Alfred dug into his pancakes, waiting eagerly for the coffee to be finished.

When it was finished, Matthew poured a generous amount into two empty goblets for him and Alfred. There was still a bit left over but he decided to leave in case either of them wanted another cup. After pouring a generous amount of maple syrup in both of their coffees, Matthew took a sip of his he. He gave a groan in satisfaction as he felt it slide down his throat, god how he missed his coffee.

Alfred was feeling a similar reaction, glad to have the caffeine back in his system. Alfred happily chugged his coffee down, giddy with the heat the coffee filled him with. "Alright, I'm ready to take on the day, I feel like I could take on the world." Alfred crowed with his newfound energy.

"Easy there Al, we're at a school, not in the middle of a war." Matthew grinned playfully, feeding off his brother's energy.

"Yeah, but that doesn't mean I can't be happy and ready to take on the world. That just means I can't be so loud about it." Alfred jabbed his brother in the side.

Matthew groaned as he pulled out his schedule. "I have Defense Against the Dark Arts with Umbridge first period. I'm really glad we had our coffee, I did not want to deal with this woman so early in the morning without it."

"Actually, the Ministry told her she's not interfere with us. We can practice our defense, we don't have to attend her class, and we don't have to follow any rules she enforces."

"Really? So we pretty much have free reign wherever that woman is concerned?" Matthew asked, surprised. She did not seem like the kind of person to be okay with taking orders like that.

"Yup, she can't punish us or give us detention. We can do whatever we want wherever she's concerned." Alfred affirmed as he munched on some toast.

"I still think it's a good idea if we go over the defense books, see what the students will be learning this year. Maybe even borrow some of the ones from the previous year."

"Trust me, this year's defense book is useless. I already read through it, and it's all about theories, and how a spell should work if done properly. There's nothing useful in them, it's only use would probably be firewood. From what the other kids were saying in that class, they've had some crazy teachers, from a narcissist, to a psychopath. I'm not sure if those books would be really helpful."

"I wouldn't be so sure, I can still ask around and if there are any they recommend, I'll look at them. Probably should avoid the one from the narcissist though, it's probably all about him."

"Are you guys talking about Gilderoy Lockhart? You're absolutely right if you are, his class was a complete joke." A boy near them spoke up. "All he ever talked about was how great he was or how great he looked. The textbooks were supposedly his adventures with monsters. On the first day of class he actually gave a pop quiz with questions about things like his favorite color and what he considers his best accomplishment. Man was a total looney I tell you."

"Did you guys have any good Defense Against the Dark Arts teachers?" Matthew asked in concern, just what kind of people do they hire here?

"Well, during our first year, the professor was skittish and jumpy about everything, but he was decent. Second year was Lockhart, who all but the love struck girls hated. Third year was actually the best professor we've had yet. His name was Professor Lupin and he actually taught us quite a lot, including having us learn how to fight a Boggart. He was sacked though because it turns out he was a werewolf, and parents weren't that excited about that. And fourth year was decent, but the professor, who turned out to be a psycho, actually practiced the Unforgivable Curse on us."

"Sounds like you guys have had quite an eventful school life, do you know what books you had for first, third, and fourth year? I want to look through them myself."

"Oh, we all have a copy if you want I can ask my mum to send my copies and you can read them." The boy offered.

"Really? Thank you, I would really appreciate that. I never got your name, I'm Matthew and this is my brother Alfred." Alfred raised his hand in greetings as his face was currently buried in a bowl of oatmeal.

"I'm Justin, say, isn't your brother a Gryffindor?" Matthew nodded. "Why is he sitting here at our table and not at his own?"

"We prefer to sit together whenever we can, and Professor Dumbledore said there aren't any rules about where we can sit. So whichever of us gets here first, we sit at the table of that person."

Alfred lifted his head from the bowl and pushed it away. "Hey Matt, I'm going to head to Charms, it takes a bit longer to get from here to Charms then it does to Defense. Are you going to be going to the class or are you going to skip it?" Alfred asked out of curiosity.

"I'm probably going to end up skipping the class. I'll be sending an owl to Arthur for the Ancient Runes books, I'm interested in what they've gone over in that class."

"Can you send him my letter too? You can send it with a different owl so he doesn't get mad at you." Matthew nodded and grabbed the letter from his twin. "Alright, see you in Transfigurations class Mattie." Alfred waved as he stood up and headed out of the Great Hall and to his Charms class.

Matthew watched as his House mates started to get up and leave. Most of them ignored him, but Justin and Ernie stopped by him. "Hey Matthew, are you coming to class?"

Matthew hesitated, he didn't want the other students to thinking he was getting special treatment from Umbridge, but he did not want to have to deal with her this early in the morning. "Actually, there's something I need to take care of first. I'll see you guys in Transfiguration if I'm not able to make it in time though."

"Alright, see you later than Matt." They both waved and headed to class.

Matthew finished his breakfast before getting up and heading to Owlery. He had already written up his request for the books last night, now he just had to send the two letters. Once there, Matthew gave a whistle for an owl. A sooty owl glided down and landed on his shoulder, it stuck its leg out, waiting patiently for Matthew to tie a letter to it. Matthew chose Alfred's letter first, tied it carefully to the owl's leg before going to the window.

"This letter is for England okay?" The owl gave an understanding hoot before it flew out the window. He looked back up at the selection of owls and selected a small boreal owl. He coaxed it down from the rafters and onto his shoulder. He tied his letter to the owl's leg and walked back to the window, "This letter's also going to England." The owl gave a coo before taking off.

Matthew didn't have to worry about the birds finding Arthur. Most animals could distinguish a nation from a normal human. Since these birds were most likely raised in the UK, they could track down the nations.

Matthew headed back to the school. Maybe he could head to the library and finish off the Charms homework for himself and Alfred. That was, if he didn't get caught and sent to Defense class, but that wouldn't be too much of a problem with his invisibility.

~. ~. Alfred ~.~.

Charms was boring and uneventful, Alfred spent the first half practicing the spell and the second half messing with the other students. He was thankful to get out of the class after such a long time, he was not looking forward to having this class three times a week.

Transfiguration passed much in the same way, the teacher gave a speech about some sort of exams the fifth years would have to take at the end of the year. They were set to practice Vanishing spells, and he and Mattie were the only ones to get it on the first try. By the end of class, only one other student had accomplished the task. The rest were told to practice the spell as homework and be ready to start again tomorrow.

Together, Alfred and Matthew walked with two of his Housemates to lunch in the Great Hall. "So Justin and Ernie were telling the Quidditch try outs the team will be holding on Thursday. Apparently, all the Houses are having their try outs this week."

"Yeah, and we're trying to convince your brother to try out. He told us he played sports back in America, something about sticks and nets and ice."

"It's called ice hockey Ernie, and it's the best sport ever." Matthew huffed, turning his nose up. "Apparently, wizards have never even heard of it. If we're still here in winter, I'm definitely teaching these guys all about it."

"Dude, you don't want Matthew to get super competitive. He's so violent when he's competitive, the whole opposing team will end up in the hospital wing for a week, if it's a bad game, make it two weeks. Seriously, I've seen him knock people's teeth out over a foul."

"Hey, that ref made a bad call, someone had to put that guy in his place." Matthew growled in response to his brother.

"What about you Alfred, are you thinking about trying out for your House team? You seem like the right build for a Keeper, or maybe a Beater." Justin asked.

"I don't know, I hadn't really thought about it."

"You should try it Al, when we were in Edinburgh you had been looking at that Firebolt. Quidditch isn't as competitive in North America, this would be your chance to try it out competitively. I'm sure dad wouldn't mind buying the Firebolt for you, if you pay him back later." Matthew suggested, he might not be so upset about being stuck here if he had something to do in the meantime.

Alfred thought about the idea, it was true he had been interested in the sport. It would definitely be something fun to do while stuck in the school. It wouldn't hurt to try out at the least, although he wasn't too sure which position would be best. "Sure, although you guys might have to explain the positions a little better to me."

The group sat together at the Hufflepuff table and ate while talking. "Well, there are four positions in Quidditch, Seeker, Keeper, Beater and Chaser. Each has a certain job to do. The Chaser and the Keeper are the easiest to explain. There are 3 Chasers and a Keeper on each team. The Chaser's job is to try to throw the Quaffle through the hoop, while the Keeper tries to stop the Quaffle from going in."

"So it's kind of like basketball?" Alfred asked, the two boys looked at each other in confusion and shrugged.

"I don't know what basketball is. The next position is the Beater, there are two Beaters on each team and they get bats. Their job is to the keep the Bludgers, which attack the players, away from their team. And at the same time, they try to hit it at the other team. The final position is the Seeker, they play one of the most crucial roles. The Seeker's job is to find the Golden Snitch, which is a golden ball with wings about the size of a walnut. When the Snitch is caught, the game ends and the team that caught it get 150 points."

"Hmm, it sounds interesting, I guess I could watch others try outs and then decide if I'll try out for that position."

Together the four teens got up and headed outside for Care of Magical Creatures.

"What do you think they'll teach us about?" Alfred asked in curiosity, excited to see what the teacher had in store for them.

"Well, last year with Hagrid we raised Blast Ended Skrewts. A lot of kids got seriously hurt during that time, the hospital wing was always filled with kids that were injured."

"Ooh, that sounds interesting, I hope we get to try something like that." Justin and Ernie looked at Al like he was insane.

"Just what kind of monsters did you guys deal with at your old school? Were all the students always in danger?"

"Well there were things like the chupacabra, although that was caught near the Mexican-American border. One time a thunderbird actually flew by our class, so we got learn more about them and how their tail feathers are used as wand cores. Then there's the akhulut, they're like killer whales that turn into wolves so they can come on land and hunt. The most dangerous thing we've dealt with is probably the water panther. It lives in lakes and rivers, it waits for a human or animal to swim by and drags it under the water, drowning it."

"Most of those are in the United States. The akhulut is from Canada, there's the Quetzalcoatl, which is native to Mexico, and there's also the wuchowsen which is wide spread over North America, but Ilvermorny mostly sticks to creatures native to the states."

"So what is your wand made from Alfred? Matthew told us his is made of sugar maple and wuchowsen feather." Justin asked out of curiousity.

"Giant Sequoia and thunderbird feather. Giant Sequoia are greatly endangered, and wands made from it even more so, but wands can be made from it without harming the tree itself. It's a difficult process, which is why there aren't that many around, the wood is ancient and powerful, difficult to handle without training.

"Thunderbird tail feathers aren't too rare of a core, but mine is from the wings of an elder thunderbird. Feathers from the wings have much more powerful magic and their own built-in defense mechanism. It will administer an electric shock if someone besides the owner picks it up. This is because the wings are what generate the storms and electricity, so the feathers hold a similar ability."

When they got to the area Care of Magical Creatures was supposed to be they found the teacher standing in front of a table piled with twigs. Justin and Ernie split off to go talk to a girl Matthew was sure was also in Hufflepuff. Alfred felt a familiar tingle from the woman, and was a bit surprised.

" _Hey Matt, the teacher's one of mine._ " Alfred nudged his brother.

" _Really? An American all the way in Scotland teaching Care of Magical Creatures?_ " Matthew asked in surprise.

" _She's probably Scottish-American or Irish-American, it's not that uncommon you know. I wonder if she attended Ilvermorny, or maybe Salem."_

" _You want to ask?"_ Matthew asked as other students started gathering around the teacher and the table in front of her.

" _Maybe after class, I think it's about to start."_

"Everyone here?" barked Professor Grubbly-Plank, once all the students had arrived. "Let's crack on then — who can tell me what these things are called?" She indicated the heap of twigs in front of her.

Alfred's hand shot up eagerly, he knew what they were, Arthur sometimes brought some with him when he visited back in his colonial days. They weren't native to his lands, so he was always happy to get a chance to bond with them. He could hear a shriek of laughter come from behind, he whirled around and fixed them with a glare. The girl that had shrieked gave a scream and Alfred turned back to see the twigs moving.

The twigs on the table leapt into the air and revealed themselves to be what looked like tiny pixieish creatures made of wood, each with knobbly brown arms and legs, two twiglike fingers at the end of each hand, and a funny, flat, barklike face in which a pair of beetle-brown eyes glittered.

Two girls close by oohed in aww of the creatures and Al didn't blame them. He always found them to be quite stunning.

"Kindly keep your voices down, girls!" said Professor GrubblyPlank sharply, scattering a handful of what looked like brown rice among the stick-creatures, who immediately fell upon the food. "So — anyone know the names of these creatures? Miss Granger?"

"Bowtruckles," said Hermione. "They're tree-guardians, usually live in wand-trees."

"Five points for Gryffindor," said Professor Grubbly-Plank. "Yes, these are bowtruckles and, as Miss Granger rightly says, they generally live in trees whose wood is of wand quality. Anybody know what they eat?"

"Wood lice, but they love fairy eggs when they can get them." Alfred responded happily, he really wished he would have brought some for them.

"Good boy, take another five points. So whenever you need leaves or wood from a tree in which a bowtruckle lodges, it is wise to have a gift of wood lice ready to distract or placate it. They may not look dangerous, but if angered they will gouge out human eyes with their fingers, which, as you can see, are very sharp and not at all desirable near the eyeballs. So if you'd like to gather closer, take a few wood lice and a bowtruckle — I have enough here for one between three — you can study them more closely. I want a sketch from each of you with all body parts labeled by the end of the lesson."

The class surged forward around the trestle table. Alfred and Matthew grabbed a handful of wood lice before moving to the table. Alfred cooed gently at the bowtruckle they were trying to get, offering it a few of the wood lice in his hand. It happily climbed into his hand, eating up the wood lice offered. He moved the creature onto his shoulder.

The pair sat in an empty patch of grass. Alfred lowered the bowtruckle back onto the ground and laid out a pile of wood lice for it to enjoy. "Could we please draw you little one, I promise we'll give you wood lice if you let us." Alfred asked the creature. Although it wouldn't understand everything he said, the creature would get a general grasp of what he wants.

The creature gave an affirming noise before going back to its meal. The twins quietly sketched the bowtruckle listening to the students around them. Most students were quiet, focusing on their work, but a blonde-haired boy from one of the groups closest to them spoke up.

"Yes," came the boy's clear drawl, "Father was talking to the Minister just a couple of days ago, you know, and it sounds as though the Ministry's really determined to crack down on substandard teaching in this place. So even if that overgrown moron does show up again, he'll probably be sent packing straight away."

"You know, you're not the only person whose father works directly with the Minister." Alfred spoke up, still sketching the magical creature in front of him.

"And who are you?" The boy sneered at him. Matthew winced as he already knew what his brother was about to do.

"The name's Alfred F. Kirkland, and I'm the hero!" The blond stood up, thrusting his hand out in a thumbs up and winking.

"Wait, Kirkland, you don't mean Arthur Kirkland, do you?" The boy asked incredulously.

"The one and only." Alfred grinned goofily, enjoying the look of surprise on the other's face.

"So as a Kirkland you must know the importance of blood purity. These filthy Mudbloods are tainting perfect family blood, we should just do away with the lot of them."

Matthew could tell the blond boy was paying no attention to his twin at all. He was too focused on his rant to notice his brother's reaction. However, Matthew was very tuned into his brother and could see him getting pissed at the young male. His eyes were narrowed in a glare, his jaw and fists clenched in anger. His brother was pissed and if he didn't get him out of there right now, Alfred was sure to do something he'd regret.

He wished their bond from yesterday was still open, he could have used it to try to soothe his twin. Instead he had to defuse him without putting anyone in danger. Bracing himself, he went in to try to calm him.

"Alfred," Matthew tried to get his attention without being to forceful, but unfortunately it wasn't enough to snap him out of it. _"Alfred, look at me."_ He said with a little more force, thankfully this is grabbed his brother's attention enough for him to glance at him. That was all he needed to talk his brother down from his anger.

" _Alfred, I know what he's saying is striking a nerve, and I know it's a very sensitive topic for you but I need you to listen to me. If you keep going the way you are, you're going to end up hurting somebody, and I know you don't want to hurt anyone."_

" _Someone needs to tell him something Matt. This is how my people thought for centuries, do you know how many people have died because they thought that exact same thing? Hundreds of thousands Mattie, hell, probably millions if you consider other countries."_

" _I know Alfred, but you can't take it out on a 15-year-old. He's just the result of what his parents taught him. Maybe when you're not so upset, you could talk to him about it, right now let's just finish drawing our friend and finish the day. We'll move away so you don't have to hear him anymore."_ Matthew offered, hoping it was enough to persuade his brother.

"We should do away with Muggles as well, useless the whole lot of them. Without any magic they're no better than animals. They're not good for anything more than target practice."

"You seriously think no-majs are useless because they don't have magic? That without power they're not a threat to you?" Matthew saw the dangerous look in his brother's eye and decided it was better to just let it play out. If it came down to it, he may have to restrain the other. "What do they teach you here at this school about wizard history? From what I remember, no-majs, or Muggles as you like to call them here, used to hunt magical folks all throughout history."

"You mean when they would hunt supposed witches and burn them at the stake? Please, they killed off more of their own than they did wizards. And any witch or wizard who was caught knew a spell that rendered the fire useless, so they weren't harmed."

"Maybe here in the UK it worked like that, but other magic folks in different countries weren't as lucky. In the United States, during the late 1690's no-majs were hunting for witches and executing them. The magical community was so terrified that children were encouraged to suppress their magical powers so they wouldn't be killed. If no-majs are so useless and powerless, why were a whole community of magic folks scared of them? No-majs are not someone you should under estimate, they've invented a device that could kill you before you pulled out your wand, let alone try to cast a spell. Or a device that could level a large city in the blink of an eye. You don't underestimate a no-maj if you want to live."

The whole class now had their attention on the two students. Matthew shifted nervously, he was tempted to drag his brother away from the situation before it escalated, which he knew it would at some point.

Malfoy scoffed in disbelief. "Right, as if Muggles were that smart."

"Trust me dude, they're a hell of a lot smarter than you think. The thing I mentioned, is called a gun, and it can shatter any protection spell, and nothing could protect someone within the range of the atomic bomb."

"I guess I underestimated the great Kirkland name if you turned out to be a Mugglelover, unless you're a disgrace to your family name, which I can definitely see." Malfoy sneered at him.

Matthew could feel himself bristle at that. Despite taking their own surnames when they got independence, they were both close to their uncles and Arthur. Arthur himself used to be considered a disgrace by his brothers, and made sure neither twin knew what that felt like.

"What is it with you and family name's dude? How does blood purity help you in any way? Just because you come from a certain family that has never married out of magical blood doesn't guarantee that you'll be a powerful wizard. There are some witches and wizards that were born to no-maj parents that far surpass most of 'pure blood.' In fact, in the past, if wizards hadn't married no-majs, and no-maj born didn't exist, wizards would have died out a long time ago."

"That's not true, there's no reason for a wizard to marry a Muggle."

"It's simple math and science kid. There's only so many witches and wizards in the world, and they can only have so many children. The Americans tried that out before they were even a country, and the only thing that kept them from dying was the constant flow of immigrants from other countries. If America can't do it, despite its huge population of magical folks, there's no way the UK can do."

Before either could say anything else, the bell rang, signaling the end of the class. Matthew sighed in relief, glad that it hadn't escalated to a physical confrontation. He grabbed his brother's arm and tugged lightly, attempting to pull his brother away.

Alfred sighed and turned to pack up his things. Hopefully the boy had learned something, though he severely doubted it. As he grabbed his drawing of the bowtruckle, he was glad to see he had finished the sketch itself before confronting the kid. The only thing left was to label to parts of it, and that was really easy. He glanced at his brother's drawing, and found Mattie had already finished the entire assignment.

Before leaving to Herbology, Alfred thanked the bowtruckle for letting them draw it and dropped it off with the rest of its kind. He ran to catch up with his brother who was now waiting a few feet from the greenhouses. He was talking to his Gryffindor Housemates surprisingly. He knew the kid was in the same year as him, but that was it.

"What are you dudes talking about?" Alfred asked as he got within earshot of the group.

"Your brother is trying to convince me that ice hockey is better than football, and I'm telling him that nothing is better than football."

"You're right there dude, football's the best. Sorry Mattie, I love hockey, but it can't hold a flame to the rush of football."

"I told you Matthew, football's the best." The other boy crowed triumphantly.

"He's not talking about the same football you are. In America, they call that sport soccer, he's talking about American football."

"Wait, you were talking about soccer? Dude, there's no way that wimpy little sport is better than football, a football player could crush a soccer player like it was nothing."

"Yes, well that's if they could catch a soccer player, they're so big and bulky they couldn't catch someone who runs up and down a field for more than an hour."

"You're both wrong, hockey is the best sport, no argument." Matthew spoke up, not about to let his sport to be overlooked.

* * *

Welcome to the bottom everybody, what do you think? Again, I'm sorry if it isn't any good, this needed to be gotten through and I really struggled with it.

For the letter from Spain, I'm sorry, but I wanted get a chance to show off my knowledge of Spanish and have a bit of fun. It may be incorrect, as I'm using Mexican Spanish and I don't know Spaniard Spanish. If anyone needs a translation I will edit it into the author's note for you guys.

For those who wanted interaction between the twins and their Housemates, there you go. I actually planned on having the twins bond with the two Hufflepuffs, but Dean Thomas' introduction was a surprise to myself. I hope that ending was pleasant enough.

I imagine both twins are able to communicate quite well with magical creatures. They have close bonds with normal animals, so I think it would make sense for them to have one with magical creatures as well.

I also think with America's history with racism, Alfred would take all forms of racism seriously. Hundreds of thousands of people were killed and abused simply for the color of their skin in the United States alone. He wouldn't let any kind of racism slide when he's around.

That's all for now guys, love it, hate it, just review it. Buh-bye!

Edit: Due to popular demand here is the translation of the letter.

 _Dear Matthew_

 _Hello my friend. I don't want to write in English in case anybody else gets this message. I know you and your twin understand Spanish and that is why I'm writing in Spanish. I hope you are doing well in the magic school. Francis has told me what has happened, I am very sorry about it. If there is anything Gilbert, your father or I can do, don't be afraid to ask. I know you don't like to bother people, but remember we are here for you. Especially your twin, he loves you a lot, never forget that. That's all for now kid,take care of yourself and tell your brother not to do anything stupid._

 _With all my love_

 _Antonio Fernandez Carriedo_

 _Kingdom of Spain_

Interesting fact, I asked my grandmother for help with the signing on and off of the letter. She was born and raised in Mexico, only coming to the States after the birth of her first son, while my mother was born in the States. Similar story with my paternal grandmother, though my father was somehow born in Chicago, not sure how that happened. While it may seem weird to sign off 'With all my love' in English, in Spanish it's perfectly acceptable to do with family and friends.

Anyways, if there's anyone who knows Spaniard Spanish more than Mexican Spanish, please feel free to correct me, as I have mentioned before, I do not know if there is much of a difference.


End file.
